JALKS  JO  yOUNG  JV1EN 


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Brave  and  True. 


Books    for   Young   Men. 

Uniform  in  style  and  price,  izmo  cloth,  each  ^o  cts. 


Thoroughness.  Talks  to  Young  Men.  By 
Rev.  Thain  Davidson,  D.D. 
Contents  . — Heartiness,  Prosperity  and  Presumption, 
Quiet  Meditation,  Chums,  Fools  I  have  Met.  Hasting;  to 
be  Rich,  As  the  Man  so  is  his  Strength,  The  Divine 
Plumb-hne,  A  Notable  Eleven,  The  Compendium  of  Chris- 
tian Duty,  Keeping  the  Heart  with  Diligence,  The  Com- 
plete Life,  The  Bow  of  Promise. 

Moral  Muscle  and  How  to  Use  It.    A  Brother- 
ly Chat  with  Young   Men.      By  Frederick 
A.  Atkins. 
•'  It  looks  the  facts  of  young  men's  hves  full  in  the  face, 
and  proclaims  the  gospel  of  industry,  perseverance,  self- 
control,  and  manly  Q\i.T\s.\X2iV\X.y."— St.  Andrew  s  Cross. 

First  Battles  and  How  to  Fight  Them.  Some 
Friendly  Chats  with  Young  Men.    By  Fred- 
erick A,  Atkins. 
"  It  is  true  in  its  substance,  attractive  in  its  style,  and 

admirable  in  its  spirit.      I  heartily  commend  this  little 

volume." — Rev.  John  Hall,  D.D. 

Brave  and  True.     Talks  to  Young  Men.     By 
Rev.  Thain  Davidson,  D.D. 
"A  short  series  of  plain,  wholesome,  spiritually  and  tem- 
porally elevating  talks  to   young  men.  '—The   Congrega- 
tionalist. 

The  Spiritual  Athlete  and  How  He  Trains. 

By  W.  A.  Bodell.     Introduction  by  Rev.  B. 

Fay  Mills. 
"  Its  power  and  value  lie  in  the  consistent  carrying  out 
of  the  comparison  between  physical  and  spiritual  training." 
—  The  Independent. 

Turn  Over  a  New  Leaf,  and  Other  Words  to 

Young  People  at  School.  By  B.  B.  Comegys. 

"The  Author  makes  the  subject  fascinating  and  there 

are  thousands  just  now  who  should  turn  over  the  leaf." — 

The  Western  Christian  Advocate. 


Fleming  H.  Revell  Company. 


^-^ 


Brave  and  True 


TALKS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 

THIS  IS  THE  PROPERTY  OF 
CHAPLAIN  FLOY  T.  BARKMAN 

BY 

THAIN    RAVIDSON,   D.D., 

Author  of   "Talks  with  Young  Men,"  "A  Good  Start, 
"Sure  to  Succeed,"  etc. 


VITA    ET    LUX. 


NEW  YORK  AND  CHICAGO. 

jplemlng  Hd.  IRevell  Company, 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature. 


1?3 


Copyright,  1891, 
—BY- 
FLEMING   H.   REVELL   COMPANY. 


tM  Cort  on  (preBB 
171, 173  Macdougal  Street,  New  York 


PREFACE. 


IT  is  not  the  soldiers  that  do  all  the  fight- 
ing.    Many  a  young   man  who   knows 

•  •   nothing   of    military   drill,    and    never 

•  •  shouldered  a  musket  in  his  life,  has 
daily  to  join  in  a  battle  that  puts  his  mettle 
and  courage,  to  the  test.  There  are  foes  to 
be  encountered  and  victories  to  be  won  in 
the  office,  the  workshop,  the  exchange,  or 
the  street,  and  hundreds  of  other  places  at 
home,  that  demand  of  our  youth  a  pluck 
and  heroism  quite  as  great  as  though  they 
were  summoned  with  rifle  and  knapsack  to 
the  banks  of  the  Nile,  or  to  the  wilds  of 
Afghanistan.  The  commercial  and  social 
life  of  to-day  presents  abundant  opportuni- 
ties for  the  display  of  all  those  qualites  that 
constitute  true  manliness.  Temptations  are 
more  manifold  and  insidious  than  ever.  A 
general  tone  of  frivolity  prevails,  with  an 
impatience   of   restraint  that  bodes   ill  for 


6  PREFACE. 

the  rising  generation.  There  is  a  deficiency 
of  moral  backbone.  A  man  is  an  optimist 
indeed  who  does  not  see  and  deplore  a  lack 
of  seriousness  and  reflection.  Young  men 
of  thoroughgoing  conscientiousness,  of  high 
moral  courage,  and  inflexible  loyalty  to  the 
truth  are  sufficiently  rare  to  be  conspicuous 
amongst  their  fellows  when  they  do  appear. 
One  is  reminded  of  the  Divine  appeal  to  the 
prophet  Jeremiah  in  the  days  of  old :  "  Run 
ye  to  and  fro  through  the  streets  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  see  now,  and  know,  and  seek  in 
the  broad  places  thereof,  if  ye  can  find  a  man, 
if  there  be  any  that  executeth  judgment, 
that  seeketh  the  truth;  and  I  will  pardon 
the  city."  Ten  righteous  men  would  have 
saved  Sodom:  it  seems  that  one  just  and 
true  man  would  have  saved  Jerusalem ! 

It  has  often  been  observed  since  the  days 
of  Solomon  that  "one  sinner  destroyeth 
much  good,"  but  the  converse  is  not  less 
true,  that  one  man  of  stern  principle  and 
force  of  character  counteracts  much  evil  in 
a  community.  I  have  remarked  it  again 
and  again :  such  an  individual  is  a  tree  of 
life,  a  well  of  living  waters.  It  is  indeed 
impossible  to  over-estimate  the  influence  he 


PREFACE.  7 

wields.  It  has  been  said  with  truth  that 
most  men  overrate  their  talents  and  under- 
rate their  influence. 

One  has  scarcely  a  conception  how  his  own 
character  is  telling  upon  those  around  him, 
either  for  good  or  evil.  If  the  thought  is 
fitted  to  startle  the  unprincipled,  it  is  no 
less  one  that  ought  to  stimulate  the  virtuous 
and  true. 

Be  out-and-out  a  man  of  unbending  recti- 
tude, true  as  steel,  and  having  at  all  times 
the  courage  of  your  convictions;  and  you 
cannot  fail  to  be  a  power  for  good  amongst 
your  fellow-men. 

It  is  remarkable  with  what  frequent  reiter- 
ation the  Bible  calls  upon  us  to  be  of  good 
courage,  and  to  play  the  man.  As  Chris- 
tians, we  are  to  be  both  brave  and  true. 

Even  physical  courage  is  a  quality  not  to 
be  despised.  Though  some  affect  to  call  it 
a  mere  brute  attribute,  it  has  close  kinship 
with  a  noble  character,  and  the.  want  of  it 
is  a  serious  misfortune  to  any  one.  It  is  a 
virtue  which  qualifies  a  man  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  weak,  and  which  makes  him 
capable  of  many  manly  and  invigorating 
amusements. 


^ 


8  PREFACE. 

In  almost  all  athletic  sports  and  out-door 
recreations  there  is  some  element  of  personal 
risk,  which,  whilst  debarring"  the  timid  and 
nervous  from  indulging  in  them,  only  adds 
zest  to  the  pleasure  which  robuster  natures 
find. 

Exercise  on  horseback  or  on  the  river; 
swimming,  skating,  and  cycling;  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  foot-race,  football,  and  baseball 
diamond — all  involve  some  slight  spice  of 
danger;  and  if  a  youth  is  too  finely  strung 
for  any  of  these  he  had  better  take  at  once 
to  threading  needles  and  winding  Berlin 
wool.  The  man  who  at  the  risk  of  his  life 
plunges  in  amid  the  foaming  waves  and 
grasps  a  sinking  brother,  how  great  his 
delight  as  he  comes,  almost  breathless,  beat- 
ing in  to  shore,  and  entrusts  the  rescued  one 
to  the  care  of  his  loved  ones  again ;  or  he 
who,  forcing  his  way  through  smoke  and 
flame,  saves  a  woman  or  a  child — what  can 
exceed  his  joy  when  he  safely  descends  the 
ladder,  carrying  the  captive  in  his  arms? 

But  there  is  a  courage  to  be  as  well  as  to 
do,  and  unquestionably  the  former  is  the 
greater  of  the  two.  This  is  often  forgotten. 
If  a  man  will  die  for  his  flag,  many  will  call 


PREFACE.  9 

him  a  hero ;  but  if  he  is  prepared  to  die  for  / 
a  principle,  then  they  call  him  a  fanatic. 
The  noblest  courage  is  that  which  inspires 
one  to  be  sternly  loyal  to  conscience,  to 
duty,  and  to  truth;  to  be  uncompromising 
where  the  honor  of  Christ  is  concerned ;  to 
bear  reproach,  the  estrangement  .of  friends, 
and  the  ridicule  of  foes,  rather  than  sacrifice 
what  he  knows  to  be  right ;  to  "  stand  four- 
square to  all  the  winds  that  blow,"  and  set 
the  face  as  a  llint  against  all  unrighteous- 
ness. 

The  words  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  King 
of  Sweden,  to  the  ambassador  of  the  Elector 
of  Brandenburg,  are  worthy  to  be  remem- 
bered. He  had  been  much  tried  by  the 
fickleness  of  some  whom  he  had  come  to 
help,  and  with  much  solemnity  he  said :  "  I 
will  hear  and  know  nothing  of  neutrality. 
His  Highness  must  be  friend  or  foe.  When 
I  come  to  his  borders  he  must  declare  him- 
self hot  or  cold.  The  battle  is  between  God 
and  the  devil." 

The  greatest  want  of  our  time  is  young 
men  of  decided  moral  and  religious  charac- 
ter, courageous    and    faithful,   brave    and 

TRUE. 


10  PREFACE. 

In  the  words  of  Tennyson — 

"  Ah  God,  for  a  man  with  a  heart,  head,  hand, 
Like  some  of  the  simple  great  ones  gone 
Forever  and  ever  by, 
One  still  strong  man  in  a  blatant  land. 
Whatever  they  call  him,  what  care  I, 
Aristocrat,  democrat,  autocrat — one 
Who  can  rule  and  dare  not  lie  !  " 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

PAGB 

How  TO  Get  on  in  the  World,        ,        .        13 

II. 
Body-culture, 22 

III. 
Honest  to  the  Core,  ....        29 

IV. 

The  True  Gentleman,        ....        37 

V. 
Rubbish 45 

VI. 

The  Love  of  Pleasure,       ....        S3 

VII. 
"The  Bubble  Reputation,"        .        .        .        61 


12  CONTENTS. 


VIII. 

PAGE 

"  Hard  Lines," 70 

IX. 

The  Confidential  Clerk,  ...        78 

X. 

Out  of  a  Situation 85 

XI. 

"A  Chip  of  the  Old  Block,"    ...        93 

XII. 
Foolish  Partridges loi 


XIII. 
"Plants  Grown  up  in  their  Youth,"      .       109 


BRAVE  AND  TRUE. 


I. 

HOW  TO  GET  ON  IN  THE  WORLD. 

FREDERICK    THE    GREAT    once   re- 
marked   of    Joseph    II.,    Emperor    of 

•  •  •  Germany,  that  he    always   wanted    to 

•  •  •  take  the  second  step  before  he  had 
taken  the  first.  This  is  precisely  the  mis- 
take which  I  find  many  young  men  making, 
and  which  is  sufficient  to  account  for  their 
not  getting  on  in  the  world.  They  want  to 
escape  everything  like  initial  drudgery,  and 
to  leap  at  once  into  a  position  of  ease,  if  not 
of  luxury.  It  is  no  good  sign  of  the  times, 
that  there  is  a  growing  disposition  to  shirk 
manual  labor  of  all  kinds:  physical  toil  is 

13 


14  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 


\ 


distasteful :  the  young  man  of  the  day  much 
prefers  to  make  his  living  by  his  wits. 

There  was  a  strong,  stalwart  youth  in  the 
days  of  Solomon,  in  whom  that  sagacious 
monarch  perceived  qualities  that  commended 
him  to  his  favor.  Jeroboam  (for  that  was 
his  name)  was  engaged  in  the  fortifications 
and  earthworks  near  the  citadel  of  Zion, 
which  went  by  the  name  of  Millo ;  and  the 
king,  in  the  course  of  his  frequent  visits  to 
the  spot,  was  so  struck  with  the  manly  form 
and  untiring  energy  of  this  workman,  that 
he  determined  to  give  him  an  important 
advance.  For  so  we  read  in  i  Kings  xi. 
28:  "And  Solomon,  seeing  the  young  man 
that  he  was  industrious,  made  him  ruler 
over  all  the  charge  of  the  house  of  Joseph." 

This  is  very  instructive,  and  perhaps  the 
first  lesson  it  suggests  is  the  advantage  of 
early  training  i?t  some  form  of  handicraft. 

Jeroboam  began  with  a  pickaxe  and  ended 
with  a  throne.  If  he  sometimes  blistered 
his  hands  in  digging  the  earthworks  of 
Millo,  they  were  all  the  better  fitted  for  hold- 


HOW  TO    GET   ON  IN  THE   WORLD.         15 

ing  a  sceptre.  The  king  was  too  wise  to 
think  the  less  of  him  because  he  supported 
his  mother  and  himself  by  manual  labor. 
The  men  who  have  risen  to  the  highest 
positions  of  eminence  in  our  mercantile 
marine  knew  at  one  time  all  the  roughing 
and  the  hard  work  of  the  common  sailor. 
Our  most  distinguished  civil  engineers  are 
not  ashamed  to  say  that,  with  grimy  hands 
and  greasy  clothes,  they  once  served  their 
time  in  the  noisy  workshop  or  factory. 

It  is  a  vast  pity  that  in  certain  circles  of 
society  it  seems  as  if  a  positive  stigma  rests 
upon  a  person  who  earns  his  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  his  brow.  This  most  foolish  aping 
of  aristocratic  life  appears  to  be  taking  a 
firm  hold  of  a  large  class  in  this  democratic 
country  of  ours.  Everywhere  throughout 
society  the  rage  runs  to  bring  up  our  chil- 
dren to  what  are  called  the  genteel  profes- 
sions, which  just  means  in  many  cases  to 
genteel  starvation.  It  is  impossible  that  a 
whole  nation  can  live  by  sitting  at  high 
desks  and  wielding  steel  pens.     I  believe 


1 6  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

that  one  of  the  lessons  God  is  going  to  teach 
this  counry  during  the  next  fifty  years  is, 
that  it  is  no  dishonor  to  make  one's  living 
by  the  labor  of  one's  hands.  In  the  battle 
of  the  world  your  scented  dandy  will  be  left 
far  behind,  even  though  he  can  talk  like  a 
philosopher.  Some  time  ago,  at  a  gathering 
in  Australia,  four  persons  met,  of  whom 
three  were  shepherds  on  a  sheep-farm.  One 
of  these  men  had  taken  his  degree  at 
Oxford,  another  at  Cambridge,  and  the 
third  at  a  German  university.  The  fourth, 
will  you  believe  it?  was  their  employer,  a 
successful  squatter,  rich  in  land  and  cattle, 
but  almost  destitute  of  the  elements  of  an 
ordinary  education. 

There  is  no  surer  token  of  a  little  mind 
than  to  imagine  that  anything  in  the  way 
of  physical  labor  is  dishonoring.  I  confess 
to  an  unbounded  contempt  for  the  smart 
young  gentleman  who  would  not,  on  any 
consideration,  be  seen  carrying  a  parcel 
down  the  street. 

Our  first  father  was  a  gardener,  and  it  is 


HOW  TO   GET  OAT  IN  THE   WORLD.         I? 

a  law  of  this  world  which  we  cannot  over- 
turn that  man  must  earn  his  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  his  brow.  The  great  bulk  of 
mankind  must  ultimately  make  their  liveli- 
hood by  handicraft  of  some  kind  or  an- 
other. 

"  The  king  himself  is  served  by  the  field." 
It  has  been  wisely  suggested  that  to  all 
our  public  schools  a  workshop  should  be 
attached,  where  every  boy  should  daily 
spend  a  portion  of  his  time,  and  learn  some 
handicraft.  It  is  perfectly  deplorable,  the 
idea  that  many  have  taken  up,  that  if  their 
kid-gloved  hands  touch  a  hammer  or  screw- 
driver, or  lift  a  box,  or  tie  up  a  parcel,  they 
are  lowering  their  dignity. 

People  seem  to  think — such  is  the  mania 
for  speculation  and  jobbing — that  they  must 
contrive  to  make  money  without  hard  work, 
and  that  by  a  little  juggling,  by  the  meeting 
of  a  few  men  round  a  board  once  a  week,  to 
drink  sherry  and  talk  together,  they  can 
make  far  better  profits  than  by  real  honest 
labor.     No,  no!     All   honor,  say   I,  to  the 


1 8  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

homy  hand  and  the  sweating  brow.  It  was 
because  Jeroboam  made  good  use  of  the 
spade  that  Solomon  made  him  a  ruler. 

Then  again,  we  are  also  to  learn  this  les- 
son, that  whatever  be  our  calling  or  business, 
the  likeliest  way  to  rise  is  to  be  thorough  and 
persevering. 

Some  time  ago  I  was  taken  over  one  of 
the  largest  engine  factories  in  all  this  coun- 
try, where  everything  is  managed  with  the 
most  perfect  regularity,  and  where,  though 
some  thousands  of  men  are  employed,  all 
are  happy  and  contented ;  and  I  was  struck 
with  a  remark  made  to  me  by  the  head  of 
the  firm. 

He  said :  "  I  keep  a  watchful  eye  upon 
my  men,  and  wherever  I  see  special  merit, 
I  give  an  advance ;  but  the  instant  a  man 
demands  a  rise  he  is  paid  off."  The  best 
and  most  thorough  workers,  accordingly, 
were  always  moving  to  the  front.  Any 
arbitrary  rule  which  will  put  all — the  skil- 
ful and  the  stupid,  the  industrious  and  the 
idle — upon  one   and  the  same  level  is  an 


I/OtV  TO   GET  ON  IN  THE   WORLD.  19 

outrage  upon  justice,  and  is  to  put  a  pre- 
mium upon  incompetency. 

If  Jeroboam,  with  his  hands  in  his  pock- 
ets, had  hung  loosely  about  the  ramparts  of 
Millo,  he  had  never  been  made  clerk  of  the 
works. 

"  Seest  thou  a  man  diligent  in  his  busi- 
ness? he  shall  stand  before  kings." 

When  George  Peabody,  the  millionaire 
and  philanthropist,  visited  his  native  place 
in  the  year  1855,  he  said  to  the  young  men  ■ 
of  the  village:  "Though  Providence  has 
granted  me  unusual  and  unvaried  success 
in  the  pursuit  of  fortune,  I  am  still  in  heart 
the  humble  boy  who  left  yonder  unpretend- 
ing dwelling.  There  is  not  a  youth  within 
the  sound  of  my  voice,  whose  early  oppor- 
tunities and  advantages  are  not  very  much 
greater  than  were  my  own,  and  I  have  since 
achieved  nothing  that  is  impossible  to  the 
most  humble  youth  among  you." 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  most 
eminently  successful  men  have  commenced 
life    under    unfavorable    conditions.      The 


BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 


difficulties  stimulated  their  energies,  and 
brought  out  what  was  in  them.  It  is  rather 
the  exception  than  the  rule,  that  a  youth 
brought  up  under  all  manner  of  advantages, 
as  regards  wealth,  and  rank,  and  education, 
has  by  dint  of  pluck  and  perseverance 
forced  his  way  to  the  front  and  commanded 
brilliant  success. 

How  easy  to  give  you  a  list  of  notable 
men  who,  starting  from  the  humblest  ranks, 
and  without  a  penny  in  their  pockets,  man- 
aged by  sheer  thoroughness  and  persever- 
ance to  reach  a  high  round  of  the  ladder  of 
fame.  The  immortal  Homer  began  life  as 
a  beggar ;  -^sop  was  a  slave ;  Demosthenes, 
the  son  of  a  sword-maker ;  the  poet  Aken- 
side  was  a  butcher's  boy;  Jeremy  Taylor, 
the  son  of  a  barber;  Ben  Jonson,  a  brick- 
layer; Hugh  Miller,  a  mason;  Dr.  Living- 
stone, a  factory- worker ;  Faraday,  a  book- 
binder's apprentice;  Dr.  KitwO,  a  shoemaker. 
Why,  I  might  multiply  the  instances  to 
almost  any  extent. 

Make   good   use  of   the  talents  God  has 


HOW  TO    GET   ON  IN  THE   WORLD.       21 

given  you,  be  they  great  or  small;  apply 
your  whole^  energy  to  the  business  you 
have  in  hand,  and  look  up  for  the  Divine 
blessing  on  your  toil;  do  this,  and — no  fear 
of  you ! 


II. 
BODY-CULTURE. 

WE  are  happily  becoming  delivered  of 
the  notion  which  long   prevailed   in 

•  •   •    certain  branches  of  society,  that  per- 

•  •    •    sonal  religion  looks  with  disfavor  on 
physical  culture. 

A  powerfully  built  frame,  strong  muscle, 
and  athletic  vigor  were  long  associated  with 
mental  incapacity  and  a  low  morale;  so  that 
a  well-developed  gymnast  had  almost  to  apol- 
ogize for  his  robustness  and  agility.  It 
seemed  to  be  taken  for  granted  in  certain 
circles  that  a  pious  youth  must  necessarily 
be  pale  and  sickly,  and  lend  no  encourage- 
ment to  out-door  sports  or  pastime.  Even 
Pascal  once  observed  that  invalidism  is  the 
natural  state  of  Christians. 

Thank  God,  something  like  a  revolution 


BOD  Y-CUL  TURE.  2  3 

in  the  public  sentiment  on  this  subject  has 
of  late  years  taken  place 

It  is  now  generally  acknowledged  that 
attention  should  be  given  to  the  full  and 
healthful  development  of  every  part  of  man's 
tripartite  nature — body,  soul,  and  spirit  all 
sharing  in  the  blessings  of  a  genuine  and 
intelligent  Christianity. 

An  important  requisite  to  success  in  life  is 
to  be  a  good  animal :  and  a  vigorous  bodily 
constitution  is  not  likely  to  be  enjoyed  with- 
out a  due  amount  of  physical  exercise.  It  is 
said  of  Cicero  of  old,  that,  becoming  some- 
what enfeebled  and  dyspeptic  through  pro- 
longed mental  toil,  he  adopted  as  a  remedy 
the  discipline  of  the  gymnasium,  and  in  two 
years  was  so  fully  recuperated,  that  he  re- 
turned to  his  studies  as  robust  as  the  peasants 
that  worked  upon  his  farm. 

Let  it  never  be  imagined  that  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  on  the  side  of  asceticism. 
I  would  never  say  to  a  man  who  has  a  mind 
to  become  a  Christian,  You  must  now  give  up 
the  pleasures  of  the  world.     There  is  no  one 


24  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

on  earth  wlio  has  so  much  right  to  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  world  as  the  man  whose  heart  is 
right  with  God. 

Come  along ;  enumerate  what  you  call  the 
pleasures  of  the  world :  make  out  the  inven- 
tory; and  when  I  have  run  my  eye  down 
the  list,  and  scored  off  every  one  that  is  in 
any  way  morally  objectionable,  I  shall  pre- 
sent you  with  a  splendid  catalogue  to 
which  Christians  have  the  first  and  truest 
claim :  pleasures  —  indoor,  outdoor ;  pleas- 
ures rural  and  urban;  pleasures  of  nature 
and  art. 

I  claim,  first  of  all,  for  Christian  young 
men,  the  exhilarating  enjoyment  of  the  ten- 
nis racket,  and  the  croquet  mallet,  and  the 
base-ball  club,  and  the  angler's  rod,  and  the 
sportsman's  gun,  and  the  cyclist's  steed. 
Where  God-fearing  youth  are  assembled,  let 
wit  and  hilarity  abound,  and  the  shout  of 
innocent  laughter  rend  the  air ;  let  healthful 
sports  expand  the  chest  and  strengthen  the 
muscle ;  let  the  graceful  oar  dip  the  stream, 
and  the  evening  tide  be  resonant  of  boat- 


BOD  Y-CUL  TURE.  25 

man's  song  as  the  bright  prow  splits  the 
crystal  billow. 

Away  with  the  notion  that  the  pleasures 
of  the  world  are  denied  to  the  Christian! 
There  is  no  single  pleasure  which  a  manly 
nature  can  relish  which  is  not  permissible  to 
him.  I  repudiate  with  scorn  the  idea  that 
when  a  man  begins  to  be  religious,  he  is 
pinched,  dwarfed,  and  shut  up.  Rather  is 
he  liberated  and  ennobled.  "  I  will  walk 
at  liberty:  because  I  keep  Thy  statutes." 
Never  were  you  more  completely  victimized 
than  when  you  were  made  to  believe  that 
life  minus  the  fear  of  God  is  more  free  and 
happy. 

The  most  saintly  man  I  ever  knew,  or  ex- 
pect to  know  on  this  side  of  heaven,  was  the 
Rev.  Murray  McCheyne,  of  Dundee,  whose 
admirable  Memoir  by  Dr.  Bonar  is  one 
of  the  most  useful  biographies  that  ever 
appeared. 

May  I  tell  you  an  incident  of  personal 
recollection  ? 

One  Monday  morning,  after  the  labors  of 


/ 


26  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

a  busy  and  specially  solemn  Sabbath,  Mc- 
Cheyne  was  walking  in  the  country,  along 
with  one  or  two  of  the  most  devoted  minis- 
ters of  the  Gospel  Scotland  has  ever  pro- 
duced, all  of  them  being  then  in  the  bloom 
of  early  manhood.  They  were  crossing  a 
field;  and  McCheyne,  bounding  forward, 
started  the  game  of  "leap-frog,"  in  which 
the  others  heartily  joined.  But  a  grave  and 
aged  elder  of  the  kirk,  who  had  witnessed 
the  sport,  came  up,  and  in  the  tones  of  one 
who  was  fearfully  shocked,  rebuked  the 
divines,  who  good-humoredly  confessed  the 
heinousness  of  their  crime,  and  promised 
never  to  do  the  like  again ! 

Such  innocent  sport  is  good  for  every  part 
of  our  being,  and  leaves  no  evil  results. 

I  do  not  deny  that  athletic  exercise  is 
sometimes  carried  to  excess,  and  in  some  of 
its  forms  is  too  often  associated  with  the  vice 
of  betting.  But  there  is  no  necessity  for  its 
being  thus  prostituted  to  base  and  ignoble 
ends.  There  is  no  reason  why  you  should 
be  ambitious  to  have  the  brawn  of  a  profes- 


BOD  Y-CUL  TURK.  2  7 

sional  pugilist,  or  to  be  able  to  lift  a  thou- 
sand pounds'  weight,  or  walk  a  hundred 
miles  in  four-and-twenty  hours.  There  is 
not  the  least  occasion  for  your  staking  your 
pocket-money  on  a  boat  race,  or  betting  on 
the  issue  of  a  game  at  base-ball.  Some  of  the 
finest  athletes  of  our  ov/n  day  have  been 
pronounced  Christians,  who  were  not  afraid 
to  show  their  colors. 

The  physical  vigor  that  comes  of  a  due 
attention  to  body-culture  adds  much,  in 
every  calling  or  profession,  to  the  usefulness 
and  enjoyment  of  life. 

An  excellent  writer  has  remarked  that  no 
man  is  in  true  health  who  cannot  stand  in 
the  free  air  of  heaven,  with  his  feet  on  God's 
free  turf,  and  thank  his  Creator  for  the  sim- 
ple luxury  of  physical  existence. 

But,  with  the  cramped  chest,  and  quaking 
nerves,  and  aching  head,  and  disordered 
liver  of  many  a  man  who  neglects  his  body 
and  takes  no  open-air  exercise,  life  becomes 
more  of  a  burden  than  a  pleasure.  Early 
rising,    a    cold  bath    every   morning,    and 


28  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

strictly  temperate  habits,  together  with  a 
due  amount  of  physical  exertion,  will  do 
more  for  some  than  all  the  tonics  the  medical 
profession  can  prescribe. 

Nor  are  the  advantages  of  the  body-cul- 
ture brief  and  transient ;  for,  in  addition  to 
maintaining  your  physical  energies  in  the 
best  condition  while  you  are  young,  you  may 
reasonably  expect,  with  the  blessing  of  God, 
to  prolong  your  days,  and  enjoy  vigor  and 
cheerfulness  when  you  are  old.  Just  as  you 
neglect  the  body,  you  impair  your  happiness 
and  shorten  your  days.  As  Horace  Mann  ( 
said,  with  a  touch  of  Irish  wit,  "  Had  I  lived 
for  a  month  as  I  see  some  people  do,  I 
should  have  died  in  a  fortnight." 


III. 
HONEST  TO  THE  CORE. 

WAS  it  not  Charles  Kingsley  who  di- 
vided men  into  three  groups:  honest 

•  •  '  men,  knaves,  and  fools? — honest  men, 

•  •  •  who  wish  to  do  right,  and  do  it ;  knaves, 
who  wish  to  do  wrong,  and  do  it ;  and  fools, 
who  wish  to  do  right,  but  contrive  to  do 
wrong.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  two  latter 
classes  are  not  altogether  extinct ;  but  I  shall 
hope  that  none  of  my  readers  belong  to  either 
of  them. 

In  very  plain  terms  does  the  voice  of 
Scripture  indorse  that  of  conscience,  when  it 
says,  "  The  Lord  requireth  of  thee,  O  man, 
that  thou  do  justly." 

No  young  man  enters  on  a  business  life 
with  a  hopeful  future  before  him  who  does 


30  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

not  determine  at  the  outset  that  under  no 
conditions  whatever  will  he  participate  in 
unlawful  gains,  or  lend  himself  to  any  form 
of  fraudulence. 

Unhappily,  many  of  you,  on  going  into 
the  mercantile  world,  are  introduced  to  an 
arena  in  which  deception,  chicanery,  and 
fraud  must  at  once  be  met. 

Again  and  again  a  dear  young  fellow, 
uninitiated  in  the  tricks  of  trade,  has  come  to 
me,  and  said,  "  I  am  at  a  loss  what  to  do ;  in 
the  business  on  which  I  have  entered  I  find 
a  great  deal  that  is  not  straight;  practical 
lies  are  told  every  day,  and  I  must  either 
wink  at  them  or  give  up  my  situation." 
Remember,  it  wants  tremendous  strength 
of  moral  character  for  such  a  lad  to  go  to 
the  manager  or  to  his  employer,  and  say,  "  I 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  these  business 
dishonesties." 

The  consequence  is,  that  the  greater  num- 
ber just  keep  silent ;  they  say  nothing  on  the 
matter,  but  quiet  their  conscience  by  think- 
ing it  is  their  employer's  lookout,  not  theirs. 


HONEST    TO    THE    CORE.  31 

And  so  they  become  inoculated  with  the 
poison,  and  their  moral  sense  is  permanently- 
injured. 

A  well-known  wit  observed  that  the  youth 
of  his  country  reminded  him  of  the  three 
degrees  of  comparison :  their  first  aim  being 
to  get  on,  their  second  to  get  honor,  and  their 
third  to  get  honest. 

On — honor — honest.  Now  you  will  do 
well  to  invert  the  order.  Let  strict  honesty 
come  first ;  and  no  fear  that  honor  and  suc- 
cess will  follow.  The  scandal  of  Christian- 
ity to-day  is  that  so  many  men  who  profess 
to  be  "leaning  upon  the  Lord,"  are  not 
square  in  their  bargains. 

Talleyrand  once  replied  to  a  man,  who,  by 
way  of  excusing  his  doubtful  method  of  con- 
ducting business,  said,  "  Why,  you  know  I 
must  live!"  "I  don't  see  that  at  all." 
There  is  no  absolute  necessity  that  you 
should  live,  but  there  is  an  absolute  neces- 
sity that  you  should 

In  conversation  be  sincere ; 

Keep  conscience,  like  the  noontide,  clear. 


./ 


32  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

If  you  cannot  maintain  your  integrity  and 
succeed,  then  less  success  with  a  good  con- 
science will  be  a  greater  gain. 

It  is  sometimes  asserted  that  there  is  now 
more  honesty  in  the  world  than  ever,  and 
that  whatever  adulteration  of  goods  is  prac- 
tised is  insignificant ;  this  I  know,  there  is 
still  quite  enough  to  make  us  blush  for 
shame. 

The  readiness,  a  few  years  ago,  to  put  a 
false  name,  description,  or  mark  upon  manu- 
factured articles  appeared  in  almost  every 
trade.  In  fact,  it  appeared  that  almost 
every  article  that  can  be  purchased  for 
money  yields  its  percentage  of  imposture. 
Be  it  Sheffield  cutlery,  or  Brussels  lace,  or 
Irish  linen,  or  French  calicoes,  it  is  all  the 
same;  swindle  the  public  if  you  can,  and 
make  your  goods  fetch  more  than  they  are 
worth. 

The  devil  is  always  busy  tempting  men  to 
dishonesty ;  and  the  eighth  and  ninth  com- 
mandments are  voted  out  of  the  Decalogue. 

The  best  apples  are  placed  at  the  top  of 


HONEST    TO    THE    CORE.  ZZ 

the  barrel ;  the  milk-can  holds  more  liquid 
than  the  cow  is  responsible  for ;  tea  at  two 
prices  comes  out  of  the  same  chest ;  wool  is 
mixed  with  cotton  and  sold  at  thirty-five 
inches  to  the  yard;  flaws  are  hidden  with 
varnish;  shams,  impositions,  and  evasions 
abound  on  every  side. 

Right  in  the  face  of  all  this  comes  the 
stern  command  from  Heaven:  "The  Lord 
requireth  of  thee  to  do  justly."  Be  straight 
in  all  your  transactions.  Abhor  every  form 
of  dishonesty.  Refuse  to  touch  any  but 
clean  money.  Believe  me,  a  full  purse  is  a 
poor  exchange  for  a  clear  conscience.  / 

It  never  pays  in  the  end  to  have  God 
against  you.  It  all  depends  on  the  mint 
it  comes  from  whether  you  will  find  your 
money  a  curse  or  a  blessing. 

Remember,  the  Lord's  copper  is  better 
than  the  devil's  gold  any  day.  A  pure  con- 
science and  a  stainless  character  are  the  best 
capital  a  young  man  can  possess.  Strict 
fidelity,  thank  God,  is  still  an  article  of 
high  commercial  value.     Rather  would  I  be 


34  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

Longfellow's  "honest  blacksmith,"  who 
"looks  the  whole  v/orld  in  the  face,  and 
fears  not  any  man,"  than  I  would  be  the  tin- 
principled  speculator  who  enriches  himself 
at  the  sacrifice  of  conscience  and  of  the  bless- 
ing of  Heaven.  Be  true  to  your  conscience, 
whatever  it  may  cost  you.  Never  for  a 
moment  entertain  the  thought  of  a  transac- 
^  tion  which  will  not  bear  the  light  through 
and  through.  It  is  very  rarely  the  case 
that,  even  as  regards  the  present  world,  dis- 
honesty proves  a  good  policy.  "  Be  sure 
your  sin  will  find  you  out." 

Tempted  you  are  certain  to  be ;  but  do  not 
wait  till  that  moment  of  trial  to  determine 
what  your  conduct  shall  be ;  fix  it  now ;  put 
your  foot  firmly  down,  and  vow  before  God 
that  never  and  under  no  circumstances 
will  you  say  what  you  do  not  mean,  or  do  to 
another  what  you  would  not  wish  that  he 
should  do  to  you. 

Mirabeau  once  said,  "  If  there  were  no 
honesty  in  the  world,  it  would  be  invented 
as  a  means  of  getting  wealth" ;    but  if  a 


HONEST    TO    THE    CORE.  35 

man's  motive  is  no  higher  than  that,  he 
may,  whilst  outwardly  honorable,  be  a 
thorough  rogue  at  heart.  With  you  integ- 
rity should  be  a  second  nature. 

The  youth  to  whom,  when  he  refused  to 
pilfer  his  employer's  till,  a  companion  sug- 
gested, "Nobody  will  see  you,"  gave  the 
admirable  reply,  ''  I  shall  see  myself  ." 

It  is  a  grand  thing  when  a  young  man  has 
such  an  inherent  hatred  of  all  that  is  under- 
hand, that,  policy  or  no  policy,  he  will  be 
truthful  and  honest  right  to  the  core,  acting 
on  the  noble  principle  of  St.  Paul,  when,  as 
it  were  baring  his  breast  to  Heaven,  he  de- 
clared :  "  Herein  do  I  exercise  myself,  to  have 
always  a  conscience  void  of  offence  toward 
God  and  toward  man." 

The  age  needs  men  who  will  stand  firm  to 
principle,  and  refuse  to  budge;  their  spirit 
akin  to  that  of  the  heroic  Nelson  when 
he  exclaimed,  "Victory,  or  —  Westminster 
Abbey!" 

Let  us  hope  that,  as  the  years  pass  on, 
the  commerce,  not  of  our  land  only,  but  of 


36  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

all  the  nations,  will  be  purified,  and  that  the 
day  may  not  be  distant,  when — 

Crime  shall  cease,  and  ancient  fraud  shall  fail, 
Returning  Justice  lift  aloft  her  s^cale ; 
Peace  o'er  the  land  her  olive  wand  extend, 
And  white-robed  Innocence  from  heaven  descend. 


IV. 

THE   TRUE    GENTLEMAN. 

GOOD  manners  are  like  standard  gold — 
they  are  current   all  the  world  over. 

*  •  •    Courtesy  is  not  only  in  itself  a  virtue 

•  •  •  and  adornment,  it  is  one  of  the  essen- 
tials of  civilized  and  social  life.  Politeness 
has  been  defined  as  benevolence  in  small 
things.  The  true  gentleman  is  always 
recognized  by  his  delicate  regard  for  the 
feelings,  opinions,  and  rights  of  others, 
even  in  matters  that  are  of  but  trifling  im- 
portance. Well  does  Tennyson  say,  "  Man- 
ners are  not  idle,  but  the  fruit  of  loyal 
nature  and  of  noble  mind." 

There  cannot  be  a  greater  mistake  than 
to  suppose,  as  it  must  be  confessed  some 
young  men  appear  to  do,  that  gentleness  of 

37 


3?  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

deportment  is  a  token  of  unmanliness.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  may  be  safely  asserted 
that  the  strongest  and  bravest  men  are  gen- 
erally the  most  mild  in  manner  and  most 
regardful  of  the  susceptibilities  and  even  of 
the  prejudices  of  others. 

Were  there  any  incompatibility  between 
strength  and  gentleness,  then  possibly  we 
might  be  pardoned  for  dispensing  with  the 
latter:  but  the  two  are  not  only  possible,  but 
most  beautiful,  in  combination.  The  man 
is  little  better  than  a  fool  who  imagines  that 
uncouthness  indicates  genius,  or  that  rude- 
ness of  manner  means  robustness  of  char- 
acter: not  unfrequently  just  the  opposite 
inference  may  be  drawn.  And  where  un- 
questionable genius  is  allied  with  brusque- 
ness  of  manner,  and  an  apparent  disregard 
to  the  feelings  of  other  people  (have  we  not 
an  instance  in  Thomas  Carlyle?),  the  man- 
ner suffers  in  consequence,  and  his  influence 
for  good  is  impaired. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  assert  unwelcome 
truths  in  an  offensive  way;  even  the  most 


THE  TRUE    GENTLEMAN.  39 

telling  rebuke  may  be  given  in  a  manner 
that  will  win  regard. 

"  Ga7it  de  velours,  main  de  fer,"  as  tbe 
French  say — the  iron  hand  in  the  velvet 
glove — if  you  must  draw  blood,  let  it  not  be 
with  a  rusty  poniard. 

It  is  one  of  the  first  marks  of  true  refine- 
ment of  mind  to  guard  against  saying 
any  thing  that  unnecessarily  gives  pain ;  as 
Chaucer  writes  in  his  "  Canterbury  Tales  " : — 

The  firste  vertue,  sone,  if  thou  wilt  leve, 
Is  to  restreine,  and  kepen  well  thy  tongue. 

Civility  costs  little,  but  is  of  great  value. 
True,  as  an  old  proverb  has  it,  "  fine  words 
butter  no  parsnips  " ;  but  they  are  of  good 
service,  and,  like  oil,  make  the  wheels  of 
life  run  smoothly.  How  often  has  it  been 
remarked,  that  it  was  not  so  much  what  a 
certain  person  said,  as  how  he  said  it,  that 
left  an  impression  behind. 

Dr.  Johnson  on  one  occasion  observed  to 
a  friend :  "  Sir,  a  man  has  no  more  right  to 
say  an  uncivil  thing  than  to  act  one;  no 


4°  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

more  rigiit  to  say  a  rude  thing  to  another 
than  to  knock  him  down." 

Politeness  is  to  a  man  what  beauty  is  to  a 
woman — it  at  once  creates  an  impression  in 
his  favor,  whilst  the  absence  of  it  imme- 
diately excites  a  prejudice  against  him.  We 
may  condemn  the  nation  of  proverbial  good 
manners  for  its  frivolity,  but  we  may  at 
least  take  a  lesson  from  its  courtesy ;  ask  a 
Parisian  to  show  you  the  road,  and  without 
even  smiling  at  your  poor  French  he  will, 
with  the  kindest  address,  give  you  full  direc- 
tion. Contrast  this  with  the  curt  manner 
with  which,  as  a  rule,  a  stranger's  inquiry  is 
responded  to  on  our  streets. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  travelling  and 
coming  in  contact  with  society  in  all  its 
varied  forms  tends  to  give  one  polish  and 
agreeableness  of  manners. 

The  rustic  youth  who  has  never  been  fifty 
miles  from  his  native  glen,  and  accordingly 
has  hardly  rubbed  shoulders  with  men  of  a 
different  way  of  thinking  from  himself,  is 
naturally  narrow  and  opinionative ;  but  if  his 


THE  TRUE    GENTLEMAN.  4 1 

heart  has  been  brought  under  the  power  of 
Divine  grace,  this  soon  rubs  off  as  he  sees  a 
little  of  the  world ;  his-prospect  enlarges,  his 
sympathies  widen,  and  he  perceives  truth 
and  goodness  where  he  had  not  expected  to 
find  either.  Nothing  so  mellows  and  beauti- 
fies the  character  as  true  religion ;  nor  was 
it  with  any  spirit  of  irreverence  that,  more 
than  a  couple  of  centuries  ago,  Thomas 
Dekker  wrote  of  the  Divine  Carpenter  of  ^ 
Nazareth : — 

A  soft,  meek,  patient,  humble,  tranquil  spirit, 
The  first  true  gentleman  that  ever  breathed. 

Let  me  remind  you  that  courtesy,  like 
charity,  begins  at  home.  The  well-bred 
man  is  as  polite  within  the  circle  of  his  own 
family  as  in  the  company  of  his  social  supe- 
riors. He  is  a  mere  prig  who  takes  his  good 
manners  with  him,  like  his  carpet-bag,  only 
when  he  is  going  from  home,  whose  supreme 
aim  is  to  shine  amongst  strangers. 

The  refinement  of  a  true  gentleman  will 
be  nowhere  more  conspicuous  than  in  the 


42  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

society  of  his  own  parents  and  sisters,  and  in 
the  thousand  little  attentions  which  cannot 
be  formulated  in  rules,  but  are  prompted  by 
a  kindly  and  ingenuous  nature.  The  easy 
surprises  of  affection,  the  readiness  to  oblige, 
the  promptness  to  do  a  favor,  the  skill  in 
smoothing  a  momentary  jar,  the  delicate 
abstinence  from  topics  likely  to  cause  irrita- 
tion,— these  are  amongst  the  secrets  of  that 
genuine  politeness  that  goes  so  far  to  make 
the  home  happy. 

One  loves  to  see,  in  a  young  man  espec- 
ially, alertness  to  be  courteous  in  the  small- 
est things.  The  very  closing  of  a  door  on 
leaving  a  railway  car,  the  giving  the  inner 
side  of  the  pavement  to  a  lady,  the  rising  up 
to  shake  hands  with  a  friend  who  addresses 
you,  the  respectful  raising  of  the  hat,  and 
fifty  other  things  may  be  mentioned  as  tri- 
fling indeed,  in  one  sense,  but  most  impor- 
tant in  another,  and  sufficient  to  draw  the 
line  between  an  ungainly  boor  and  a  Chris- 
tian gentleman. 

Let  me  remind  you  that  your  general  bear- 


TH£:  TRUE    GENTLEMAJSt.  43 

ing  and  deportment  will  have  mucli  to  do 
with  your  future  success  in  life. 

"Give  a  youth  address  and  accomplish- 
ments," says  Emerson,  "and  you  give  him 
the  mastery  of  palaces  and  fortunes  where- 
ever  he  goes."  And  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield 
was  not  far  wrong  when  he  remarked,  "  Man- 
ners is  all  in  everything ;  it  is  by  manners 
only  that  you  can  please  and  consequently 
rise.  All  your  Greek,"  he  adds,  "will  never 
advance  you  from  secretary  to  envoy,  or  from 
envoy  to  ambassador;  but  your  address, 
your  air,  your  manner,  if  good,  may." 

The  man  who  attains  success  in  any  call- 
ing is  not  always  the  ablest  or  most  diligent ; 
but  as  a  rule  he  is  the  man  who  shows 
the  greatest  readiness  to  please  and  to  be 
pleased ;  whose  courtesy  of  manners  almost 
disarms  criticism  and  insures  regard. 

There  are  countless  instances  within  our 
knowledge  in  which  pleasing  manners  have 
had  much  to  do  with  the  success,  not  only 
of  lawyers,  doctors,  and  divines,  but  also  of 
clerks,  laborers,  and  men  in  every  walk  of 


44  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

life.  Of  a  certain  politician  it  was  said  that 
the  very  tones  in  which  he  asked  for  a  pinch 
of  snuff  were  more  potent  than  the  clearest 
logic.  Genuine  refinement  is  the  exclusive 
possession  of  no  one  class;  it  is  within  the 
reach  of  every  one. 

May  each  of  my  young  men  readers  so 
bear  himself  through  life,  that  he  may  merit 
the  couplet  Tennyson  wrote  on  Hanlon : — 

And  thus  he  bore  without  abuse, 
The  grand  old  name  of  gentleman. 


V. 

RUBBISH. 

"  npHERE  is  mucli  rubbish."    So  said  the 
*   Jewish  builders  in  Nehemiah's  time, 

•  •  •  who  were   set  to  restore  the  walls  of 

•  •  •  Jerusalem. 

Whilst  that  single-hearted  patriot,  though 
in  reality  in  exile,  was  cup-bearer  to  Arta- 
xerxes,  and  living  amid  all  the  splendor  and 
luxury  of  Shushan,  it  was  a  constant  burden 
on  his  spirit  to  think  of  the  desolations  of 
his  own  land,  of  the  walls  of  the  sacred  city 
lying  in  ruins,  of  the  temple  broken  down, 
the  ordinances  of  religion  neglected,  and  the 
people  sinking  into  helpless  despair. 

He  clearly  saw  that  the  one  step  which, 
under  God,  would  resuscitate  the  nation, 
revive  their  spirits,  restore  their  prestige, 

45 


4<5  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

and  lay  the  foundation  of  their  future  pros- 
perity was  the  rebuilding  of  their  ancient 
and  beloved  city,  and  to  do  this  he  resolved 
to  devote  his  life. 

Having  obtained  permission  of  the  Persian 
monarch,  and  earnestly  sought  the  blessing 
of  Heaven,  he  came  to  Jerusalem  to  enter 
upon  his  gig.antic  task.  With  all  the  energy 
of  his  nature  he  threw  himself  into  the  un- 
dertaking, and  by  his  inspiring  words  and 
example  so  stirred  up  the  whole  population 
that  they  vigorously  entered  on  the  work. 
Each  several  tribe  and  family  had  its  own 
share  allotted  to  it. 

The  various  trades  were  well  represented. 

Special  mention  is  made  of  the  activity  of 
the  goldsmiths,  and  the  apothecaries,  and 
the  merchants  and  others,  who  set  to  work 
with  a  will  to  restore  the  city. 

In  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  the 
walls  began  to  emerge  from  the  dSris  and 
dust,  the  gateways  were  rebuilt,  the  doors 
with  locks  and  bars  were  hung,  and  the  city 
gave  promise   of  being  once  more   a  place 


RUBBISH.  47 


of  strength  and  beauty;  but,  oh,  the  rub- 
bish that  had  first  to  be  cleared  out  of  the 
way. 

Now,  we  are  builders,  or  we  ought  to  be. 
Every  one  has  his  own  share  of  work  to  do 
in  the  building  of  the  temple  of  God ;  and  a 
man's  life  has  been  utterly  thrown  away  if, 
when  it  is  ended,  it  is  found  that  he  has  not 
added  so  much  as  a  stone  to  the  edifice. 
Some  persons  are  intent  on  building  up  a 
business,  building  up  a  fortune,  building  up 
a  reputation,  but  if  that  is  all  you  have 
before  you,  it  will  be  a  sad  thing  for  you  in 
the  day  of  reckoning ! 

God  wants  you  to  build  for  Him,  and  for 
eternity ;  to  do  your  quota  in  the  erection  of 
a  spiritual  temple  to  Him  on  earth ;  to  dis- 
charge your  own  measure  of  responsibility 
in  regard  to  the  setting  up  of  His  blessed 
kingdom,  "kingdom  of  righteousness,  and 
peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  A  duty 
devolves  upon  every  one,  even  the  youngest 
and  the  humblest,  in  respect  to  the  purifica- 
tion of  society,  the  amelioration  of  sorrow, 


48  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

the  spread  of  knowledge  and  happiness,  and 
the  bettering  of  mankind. 

You  have  to  rear  the  sacred  edifice  of  char- 
acter, to  raise  the  stately  structure  of  a  life- 
work  that  shall  be  to  the  glory  of  God :  and 
now  is  the  time  to  set  about  it  in  earnest. 
But  every  one  will  find,  no  matter  what  his 
sphere  may  be,  that  if  there  is  much  to  be 
done,  there  is,  first  of  all,  not  a  little  to  be 
undone.  In  a  world  like  this  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  negative  work  to  be  accomplished. 
A  heap  has  to  be  cleared  away  before  you 
can  begin  to  build.  The  spade  must  come 
before  the  trowel.  It  is  arduous  and  pain- 
ful; there  is  no  romance  or  ^clat  about  it; 
but  it  is  necessary  in  order  that  the  founda- 
tions may  be  securely  laid.  The  slate  is 
scribbled  over,  and  must  be  cleaned  before 
the  fair  copy  can  be  written. 

When  our  first  parent  was  placed  in  Eden, 
God  said  nothing  to  him  about  clearing  away 
the  weeds  and  nettles;  there  was  no  Dutch 
hoe  put  into  his  hand,  for  as  yet  the  soil  was 
clean,  and  the  first  gardener's  instructions 


RUBBISH.  49 


were  simply  to  dress  the  garden  and  keep 
it.  It  is  very  different  work  now.  Every- 
where weeds  and  noxious  growths  of  all 
kinds  prevail,  and  before  a  man  can  sow  his 
seeds  and  plant  his  flowers,  there  is  much 
stiff  and  unattractive  labor  in  preparing  the 
ground  for  them. 

This  negative  work  may  not  make  any 
show,  it  may  call  forth  little  admiration  and 
applause,  but  it  is  essential.  A  friend  once 
called  upon  Michael  Angelo  in  his  studio, 
whilst  he  was  at  work  upon  a  statue.  Some 
weeks  later  he  called  again  and  found  the 
great  sculptor  still  engaged  on  the  same 
marble  figure.  "  Why,  you  have  done  noth- 
ing to  this  statue  since  I  saw  it  some  weeks 
ago!"  "Oh,  yes,"  replied  the  incomparable 
genius,  "I  have;  I  have  removed  the  blem- 
ish from  that  limb,  and  taken  away  the  hard 
expression  from  that  eye,  and  corrected  the 
defect  in  that  muscle."  Well,  it  was  only 
negative  work,  but  it  was  indispensable  to  a 
successful  result. 

"  There  is  much  rubbish  "  of  conceits,  and 


50  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

prejudices,  and  misconceptions,  and  super- 
stitions, and  delusions  of  every  sort,  in  the 
case  of  most  of  us,  to  be  cleared  away  at  the 
very  commencement  of  our  spiritual  educa- 
tion. The  mind  has  to  be  liberated  from 
many  a  prepossession.  Some  of  us  have 
drunk  in  from  the  earliest  days  the  most 
erroneous  conceptions.  It  has  been  our 
trouble  from  boyhood  that  we  have  had  to 
unlearn  a  good  many  notions  which  had 
taken  such  a  hold  upon  us  that  they  warp 
our  judgment  to  this  very  hour.  Even  Mar- 
tin Luther  bitterly  complained  that  from  his 
childhood  he  had  been  trained  to  regard 
Jesus  Christ  as  a  severe  and  angry  Judge,  so 
that  he  positively  trembled  at  the  mention 
of  that  name  that  ought  to  "  sound  so  sweet 
in  a  believer's  ear." 

Some  impressions  and  opinions,  though 
incorrect,  may  be  harmless  in  their  effect, 
but  others  may  throw  a  lifelong  blight  upon 
the  soul.  Columbus  was  firmly  persuaded 
that  the  world  was  not  more  than  twelve 
thousand  miles  in  circumference.    He,  there- 


RUBBISH,  51 

fore,  confidently  expected  that  after  sail- 
ing about  three  thousand  miles  to  the  west- 
ward, he  would  touch  the  shores  of  the  new 
continent. 

It  was  a  big  mistake,  but  it  was  a  harm- 
less one,  because  he  pushed  forward  all  the 
more  hopefully  in  the  right  direction. 

But  had  his  miscalculations  been  on  the 
other  side — had  he  imagined,  for  example, 
that  the  earth's  circumference  was  fifty  or 
sixty  thousand  miles,  it  is  probable  he  would 
never  have  planned  his  expedition,  and 
never  have  made  his  great  discovery.  Some 
of  us  were  early  taught  to  think  of  God  as 
far  away  from  us;  as  a  Being,  stern,  implac- 
able, and  delighting  in  judgment ;  and  that 
impression  has  done  us  a  world  of  harm :  it 
has  discouraged  us  in  moments  when  we 
were  ready  to  arise  and  go  to  Him,  and  the 
first  part  of  our  spiritual  education  was 
the  unlearning  of  this  hideous  lie  and  the 
discovery  that,  so  far  from  delighting  in 
judgment.  He  "delighteth  in  mercy,"  and 
that  the    Father's    arms   are    opened   wide 


52  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

to  welcome  the  penitent  prodigal  home 
again. 

The  rubbish  in  the  way  may  take  other 
forms.  Yes,  a  man's  very  gold  and  silver 
may  be  the  rubbish  that  is  hindering  him 
from  building  up  a  Christian  character  and 
a  noble  life.  Money  as  well  as  ambition  has 
often  blocked  up  the  way  to  heaven,  and 
many  a  youth,  when  called  to  the  kingdom, 
has,  like  Saul,  been  "hid  among  the  stuff." 

A  successful  merchant  lay  a-dying,  who 
yet  seemed  as  though  he  could  not  die,  and 
with  aimless  and  nervous  restlessness  his 
hands  kept  moving  about,  opening  and  shut- 
ting, and  clutching  the  bed-clothes.  "  What 
is  the  matter?"  asked  the  physician,  who  was 
at  a  loss  to  know  what  it  meant.  "  I  know," 
said  his  son;  "every  night  before  he  went 
to  sleep,  he  liked  to  feel  and  handle  some  of 
his  bank-notes. "  The  youth  slipped  a  bank- 
note into  his  father's  hand,  and  feeling, 
handling,  crumpling  it  he  died. 


VI. 

THE  LOVE  OF  PLEASURE. 

WHEN  Solomon  says,  "  He  that  loveth 
pleasure  shall  be  a  poor  man"  (Pro v. 

•  •   •  xxi.  17),  he  puts  his  finger  upon   the 

•  •  •  secret  of  the  failure  of  nine-tenths  of 
our  unsuccessful  young  men.  They  loved 
pleasure  and  gave  themselves  up  to  its  pur- 
suit, and  so  they  have  never  got  on,  and — 
never  will.  Not  by  any  means  that  to  be  a 
poor  man  is  necessarily  to  be  an  unhappy 
man ;  but  when  poverty  comes  as  the  result 
of  idleness,  and  sloth,  and  self-indulgence  it 
is  both  a  curse  and  a  shame. 

None  of  my  readers    desire   to  be  poor 

men ;  if  you  are  poor  just  now  you  hope  to 

be  rich  some  day,  or  at  least  to  be  fairly 

well  off;  and  in  this  wish  there  is  nothing 

53 


54  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

whatever  to  condemn.  Whatever  view  we 
may  take  of  human  life,  and  of  the  value  of 
money,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  if  happi- 
ness is  not  always  found  in  success,  it  is 
never  found  in  failure. 

Poverty  is,  of  course,  a  relative  term. 
What  one  man  would  deem  indigence, 
another  would  probably  consider  to  be  abun- 
dance, but  nothing  is  more  surprising  than 
the  large  proportion  of  men  having  a  fair 
start  in  life  who  never,  all  their  days,  come 
within  sight  of  the  position  of  comfort  they 
had  confidently  expected  to  reach. 

A  well-known  citizen  in  a  large  commer- 
cial centre,  who  had  long  been  acquainted 
with  the  leading  business  men  of  the  place, 
gave  it  as  his  deliberate  opinion  that  not 
more  than  three  out  of  every  hundred  who 
entered  upon  mercantile  life  there  became 
ultimately  successful.  Of  the  great  mass  of 
young  men  who  every  year  rush  to  the  cities 
in  the  hope  of  doing  well  for  themselves, 
there  is  but  a  small  percentage  who  win 
a  position  of  comparative  affluence,  whilst 


THE   LOVE    OF  PLEASURE.  55 

there  are  probably  large  numbers  whom, 
to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  every  day  is 
but  a  struggle  to  keep  their  heads  above 
water. 

Now,  why  is  this  ?  It  will  not  do  to  say 
that  there  is  not  room  for  all,  or  that  mer- 
cantile life  is  but  a  great  lottery,  in  which 
the  prizes  are  so  few  and  the  blanks  so 
many,  that  thousands  must  of  necessity  col- 
lapse ;  no,  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  fail- 
ures can  easily  be  accounted  for,  and  the 
ancient  sage  pointed  to  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  causes  when  he  asserted,  that 
"he  that  loveth  pleasure  shall  be  a  poor 
man."  Other  causes  of  non-success  among 
our  young  men  can  easily  be  mentioned, — 
financial  speculation  for  example.  There 
are  always  a  number  of  persons  who  lay 
themselves  out  to  get  money  by  any  other 
means  than  by  good  honest  work ;  and  when 
a  young  fellow  once  gets  on  this  line  of  rail, 
he  is  practically  done  for.  "The  darkest 
day  in  any  man's  earthly  career,"  so  said 
Horace  Greeley,   "is  that  wherein  he  first 


5 6  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

fancies  there  is  some  easier  way  of  gaining 
a  shilling  than  by  squarely  earning  it." 

Some  remain  poor  men  all  their  days  sim- 
ply through  want  of  business  capacity ;  they 
are  wooden  headed,  and  would  spoil  almost 
any  job  they  did,  unless  it  were  that  of  turn- 
ing a  grindstone. 

Others  fail  through  sheer  downright  lazi- 
ness, never  seeming  to  be  more  than  half 
awake;  others,  through  instability  of  appli- 
cation, and  impatience  for  immediate  results ; 
others,  through  an  entire  lack  of  originality 
and  enterprise;  whilst,  in  still  a  fifth  case, 
failure  has  been  due  to  an  extravagant  san- 
guineness ;  for,  to  listen  to  them,  you  would 
suppose  they  had  just  tapped  a  new  vein 
that  is  to  bring  them  a  fortune;  but  said 
fortune  never  comes. 

After  all,  however,  it  is  to  the  love  of 
pleasure  that  a  large  number  of  young  men 
owe  thfeir  non-success. 

Pleasure,  indeed,  is  a  word  of  many  mean- 
ings, and  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the 
pursuit  of  it  in  every  form  tends  to  penury. 


THE    LOVE    OF  PLEASURE.  57 

Some  find  an  exquisite  pleasure  in  the  con- 
templation of  Nature ;  others  will  tell  us  of 
the  pleasure  they  realize  in  the  study  of  lit- 
erature, in  science,  in  travel,  in  music ;  and 
many  a  one,  to  whom  a  well-stocked  library 
is  like  a  little  heaven  on  earth,  can  join  in 
the  words  of  an  old  English  song: — 

Oh  for  a  book  and  a  shady  nook, 

Either  indoors  or  out, 
With  the  green  leaves  whispering  overhead,  . 

Or  the  street  cries  all  about ;  ^ 

Where  I  may  read  all  at  my  ease, 

Both  of  the  new  and  old ; 
For  a  jolly  good  book,  wherein  to  look, 

Is  better  to  me  than  gold. 

No  one  would  say,  in  regard  to  such  pleas- 
ures as  these,  that  the  man  who  pursues 
them  in  moderation  will  come  to  poverty, 
for  indeed  they  are  elevating  and  wholesome 
in  their  character.  But  I  would  have  my 
readers  know  that  the  word  Solomon  employs 
in  his  proverb  points  to  pleasure  of  a  very 
different  character ;  it  is  rendered  "  sport "  in 
the  margin,  and  indicates  a  class  of  amuse- 
ments that  are  riotous  and  demoralizing.     In 


58  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

what  are  usually  called  out-door  sports,  there 
is  nothing  which  an  intelligent  Christian  is 
called  upon  to  condemn  where  they  do  not 
absorb  too  much  attention  and  time ;  but  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that  through  an  ex- 
cessive fondness  even  for  these  some  young 
men  have  injured  their  prospects  of  business 
success.  The  craving  for  amusement  re- 
quires sometimes  to  be  curbed ;  it  is  possible 
that  games  and  athletic  exercises  that  are 
innocent  enough  in  themselves,  may  become 
a  snare.  Many  a  man  who  began  life  well 
has,  through  nothing  but  the  inordinate  love 
of  pleasure,  ended  in  the  poorhouse.  I  have 
seen  youths  become  so  enamoured  of  this, 
that,  or  the  other  form  of  amusement,  that 
business  was  neglected,  books  were  neg- 
lected, even  religion  was  neglected,  and 
off  they  went  galloping  to  ruin. 

Such  pleasures,  for  one  thing,  generally 
demand  money,  and  when  the  little  stock 
is  exhausted  the  stupid  fellows  are  first 
tempted  to  borrow  what  they  cannot  earn, 
and  then  to  steal  what  they  cannot  borrow. 


THE   LOVE    OF  PLEASURE.  59 

An  occasional  holiday  is  not  enough  for 
them ;  and  instead  of  throwing  their  whole 
heart  into  duty,  they  are  ever  planning  new 
schemes  of  diversion.  How  many  an  anx- 
ious parent  has  occasion  to  write  after  this 
style :  "  I  wish  you  would  use  your  influence 
with  my  son,  and  get  him  to  stick  more 
closely  to  his  work.  James  is  a  nice  lad, 
but  he  is  too  fond  of  pleasure  and  unhappily 
has  got  among  a  set  of  companions  who 
are  always  tempting  him  to  neglect  busi- 
ness. " 

Well,  I  recommend  Master  James  to  lay  to 
heart  what  a  great  sage  declared  three  thous- 
and years  ago :  "  He  that  loveth  pleasure 
shall  be  a  poor  man." 

The  truth  of  the  proverb  has  been  con- 
firmed times  without  number,  and  many  is 
the  elderly  man  who  is  eating  a  dry  crust  to- 
day, because  in  youth  his  motto  practically 
was,  "Pleasure  before  Duty." 

Put  pleasure  in  its  proper  place,  and  it  will 
be  doubly  sweet.  It  is  those  who  stick  reso- 
lutely to  their  post,  and  carry  through  their 


6o  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

task,  who  not  only  are  on  tlie  way  to  easier 
circumstances  by  and  by,  but  even  now  have 
by  far  the  largest  enjoyment  of  legitimate 
pleasure.  "The  blessing  of  the  Lord  it 
maketh  rich,  and  He  addeth  no  sorrow 
with  it." 


VII. 

''THE  BUBBLE  REPUTATION." 

VALUABLE   as  money  is,  we  have  it 
on  very  high  authority  that  there  is 

•  •  •   something  more  valuable  still,  for  Solo- 

•  •  •   mon  declares  that  a  good  name  is  to  be  ^/ 
chosen  rather  than  great  riches,  and  is  more 
to  be  desired  than  silver  and  gold.      What 

a  happy  thing  it  is  that  it  is  a  treasure  out 
of  the  reach  of  no  one !  Wealth  you  may 
never  be  able  to  acquire,  but  this  is  a  pos- 
session within  the  grasp  of  all. 

In  the  first  place,  be  it  remembered  that 
a  good  name  must  be  the  fruit  of  one' s  own 
exertion.  Of  all  the  elements  of  success  in 
life  none  is  more  vital  than  self-reliance,  the 
determination  to  be,  under  God,  the  creator 
of  your  own  reputation.     If  difficulties  stand 

6i 


/ 


62  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

in  the  way,  all  the  better,  so  long  as  you 
have  pluck  to  fight  through  them. 

Let  each  young  man  learn  to  have  faith  in 
himself,  and,  scorning  props  and  crutches, 
take  earnest  hold  on  life ;  believing  that,  as 
the  biographer  of  Goethe  says,  "  man  ought 
to  regard  himself  not  (as  he  is  often  told)  as 
the  creature  of  circumstances,  but  as  the 
architect  of  circumstances."  Many  a  youth 
has  good  stuff  in  him  that  never  comes  to 
anything,  because  he  slips  too  easily  into 
some  groove  of  life:  it  is  commonly  those 
who  have  a  tough  battle  to  begin  with  that 
make  their  mark  upon  their  age.  Beetho- 
ven said  of  Rossini,  "  that  he  had  the  mate- 
rial in  him  to  have  made  a  good  musician  if 
he  had  only  been  well  flogged  when  a  boy, 
but  that  he  was  spoiled  by  the  ease  with 
which  he  composed." 

Thousands  of  young  men  have  turned  out 
failures  because  they  relied  for  a  good  name 
on  their  excellent  parentage,  or  on  the  pat- 
ronage of  friends,  rather  than  on  their  own 
personal  exertions. 


''THE    BUBBLE   /DEPUTATION."  63 

It  has  not  always  proved  an  unmixed  bene- 
fit to  have  a  wealthy  grandfather  or  an 
influential  uncle,  to  give  the  young  spark  a 
start  in  life  and  a  reputation  on  which  he 
could  trade :  not  seldom  this  has  turned  out 
a  real  misfortune.  Such  conditions  gener- 
ally issue  in  the  production  of  a  weak  and 
molluscous  character.  Hence  it  happens  so 
often  that  the  sons  of  merchant-princes,  of 
your  big  city  men,  turn  out  mere  nobodies. 
It  is  quite  observable  that  character  and 
wealth  rarely  continue  in  the  same  family 
for  more  than  two  or  three  generations. 

"What  I  am  I  have  made  myself;  I  say 
this  without  vanity  and  in  pure  simplicity 
of  heart. "  So  wrote  that  brilliantly  success- 
ful man,  Sir  Humphrey  Davy ;  and  it  is  quite 
remarkable  how  many  of  our  worthiest  and 
most  respected  citizens  have  risen  to  honor 
and  position,  simply  by  dint  of  their  stern 
principle  and  persevering  exertion.  The 
only  good  name  worth  having  must  be 
sought  in  this  way. 

If  it  is  an  honorable  ambition  for  a  young 


64  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

man  to  wish  to  "get  on,"  it  is  a  still  nobler 
ambition  for  him  to  wish  to  "get  up,"  to 
stand  high  in  the  respect  of  all  who  know 
him ;  but  if  you  are  hoping  to  reach  this  in 
any  other  way  than  by  your  own  steady  self- 
exertion,  ah!  my  dear  boy,  you  are  look- 
ing through  the  wrong  end  of  the  telescope, 
and  your  prospect  can  only  be  dim  and  dis- 
appointing. 

The  next  thing  I  have  to  say  is  that  the 
pursuit  of  a  good  name  must  be  begun  in 
early  life.  Remember,  it  is  not  a  thing  that 
can  be  created  suddenly,  it  takes  years  to 
establish,  and  when  youth  and  adolescence 
are  gone,  it  is  next  to  impossible.  It  will 
not  shoot  up  in  a  night  like  Jonah's  gourd 
at  Nineveh;  but,  like  that  gourd,  it  may 
perish  in  a  night.  The  high  character 
which  it  has  taken  long  years  to  establish 
may  in  one  hour  be  hopelessly  shattered. 
But,  thank  God,  such  a  case  is  exceedingly 
rare,  especially  where  the  formation  has 
commenced  at  an  early  age.  The  sooner  a 
boy  gives  indication  of  sterling  principle,  of 


THIS  IS  THE  PROPERTY  Qf 

CHAPLAIN  FLOY  T.  BARKMAN 

"  TJIB   BUBBLE   REPUTATION.''  65 

•unbending  truthfulness,  and  of  genuine 
self-respect,  the  greater  is  the  confidence  we 
may  feel  in  his  honorable  future. 

Most  of  the  men  of  our  country  whose 
names  stand  for  exalted  principle,  a  high 
sense  of  honor,  and  splendid  beneficence, 
revealed  while  they  were  yet  beardless 
youths  the  germs  of  their  future  character. 
Even  at  fourteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age 
there  were  not  wanting  indications  of  what 
the  coming  man  was  to  be.  I  should  say 
that  in  most  cases  the  third  septenate  of  life 
— from  fifteen  to  twenty-one  inclusive — is 
the  formative  period.  Let  a  young  man 
pass  this  season  with  pure  morals  and  an 
unstained  reputation,  showing  command  of 
himself,  control  of  his  passions,  and  diligent 
application  to  duty,  we  need  have  little  fear 
that  "  a  good  name  "  will  crown  his  maturer 
years. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  at  this  stage  of  life 
he  gives  way  to  indolent  habits,  indulges  in 
vicious  courses,  associates  with  drinking  and 
betting    men,    and    betrays    an    undoubted 

THIS  IS  THE  PROPERTY  OF 
CHAPUIN  FLOY  T.  BARKIIAM 


66  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

want  of  conscientiousness,  his  character  in- 
curs a  stain  which  no  subsequent  repentance 
is  likely  to  remove.  It  is  usually  after  he 
has  reached  his  majority  that  a  man  be- 
gins to  make  money;  but  it  is  before  he 
reaches  it  that  he  makes  what  is  far  more 
valuable — a  good  name — a  fair,  honorable 
character. 

A  good  name,  to  be  of  value,  must  be  based 
on  sterling  and  intrinsic  worth. 

Dugald  Stewart  tells  of  a  young  man  whose 
supreme  ambition  was  to  be  able  to  balance 
a  broomstick  on  his  chin;  another's  highest 
aim  is  to  be  the  champion  sculler,  to  be  the 
first  foot-ball  player  in  the  country;  to  be 
A I  at  a  game  of  billiards,  to  beat  the  record 
on  his  bicycle,  to  go  without  food  for  forty 
days,  and  so  forth.  Well,  every  man  to  his 
taste ;  I  am  not  at  present  saying  anything 
for  or  against  these  achievements,  but  you 
will  hardly  pronounce  any  of  them  the 
noblest  form  of  ambition.  No  man  can  be 
expected  to  rise  higher  than  his  own  stan- 
dard. 


*'  THE    BUBBLE    DEPUTATION."  67 

May  I  venture  to  mention  one  or  two  ele- 
ments whicii  go  to  the  formation  of  that 
good  name  that  all  the  gold  of  the  Roths- 
childs could  not  buy? 

I  give  the  first  place  to  stern  truthfulness. 
No  prevarications,  no  innuendos,  no  shams,  y 
Let  the  strict  truth  be  spoken  at  all  times 
and  at  all  costs.  Not  this  only;  for  a  lie 
may  be  acted  as  well  as  spoken.  There  may 
be  as  big  a  falsehood  in  omission  or  in  con- 
cealment, as  over-statement.  As  an  old 
Latin  proverb  has  it,  "  Suppressio  veri  sugges- 
tio  falsi'' ;  i.  e.,  the  suppression  of  truth  is 
the  suggestion  of  the  lie.  Let  your  word  be 
as  good  as  your  oath  any  day ;  your  promise 
as  valuable  as  your  bond.  You  are  already 
of  consequence  in  the  world  if  it  is  known 
you  can  be  implicitly  relied  upon.  Strict 
fidelity  is  an  article  of  high  commercial 
value.  You  may  have  a  pleasing  address, 
good  manners,  and  any  amount  of  brain ;  all 
that  is  worth  little  if  absolute  confidence 
cannot  be  placed  in  you.  Loathe  an  untruth 
as  you  loathe   death.     Be  jealous   of  any 


68  BE  AVE    AND    TRUE. 

weakness  on  this  point  of  character.  Stamp 
it  out  if  it  exists. 

Again,  let  your  name  be  a  synonym  for 
purity.  Let  your  character,  like  Caesar's 
wife,  be  above  suspicion.  Have  such  an 
abhorrence  of  the  lewd,  the  vile,  the  base 
that  the  veriest  hint  of  a  charge  against  you 
will  rebound  and  fall  harmless  at  your  feet. 
Beware  of  a  word,  a  look,  a  gesture,  a  laugh 
that  may  be  misunderstood,  and  bring  a 
stain  upon  you.  Remember,  even  a  whisper 
of  reproach,  if  there  is  cause  for  it,  may  ruin 
you  for  life.  A  pointed  cannon  is  nothing 
/  to  a  pointed  finger,  when  the  conscience  is 
not  clear. 

I  would  have  you  also  have  a  good  name 
for  benevolence.  Sweeter  than  the  perfume 
of  roses  is  a  reputation  for  a  kind,  charitable, 
unselfish  nature;  a  ready  disposition  to  do 
for  others  any  good  turn  in  your  power. 

Strict  integrity  and  purity  are  not  enough. 
A  man  is  not  likely  to  get  on  well  in  the 
world  if  he  thinks  of  nobody  but  number 
one.    There  are  many  other  qualities  essen- 


"THE    BUBBLE   REPUTATION."  69 

tial  to  a  fair  reputation,  whicli  space  does 
not  permit  me  to  name ;  but  very  important 
it  is  to  keep  in  mind  also  what  may  be  called 
the  minor  moralities  of  life.  A  good  name 
for  punctuality,  for  example,  of  what  im- 
mense service  may  this  be  to  a  young  man, — 
always  up  to  the  minute,  his  watch  never  / 
behind  time  and  he  never  behind  his  watch. 
A  good  name  for  early  rising,  for  clean  and 
tidy  habits,  for  an  obliging  disposition,  for 
plodding  perseverance,  for  regard  to  econ- 
omy: there  is  not  one  of  these  points  you 
can  afford  to  despise,  for  they  all  go  to  make 
up  the  reputation  on  which  your  future  must 
largely  depend. 


VIII. 
''HARD   LIMES." 

HOW  frequently  do  we  hear  the  remark 
made  regarding  some  youth  who  has 

•  •  •    got   into   trouble,  and  cannot  get  out 

•  •  •  again,  "  Poor  fellow !  he  has  hard 
lines."  Misconduct  and  misfortune  not  sel- 
dom follow  one  another  in  this  life ;  and  too 
often  it  happens  that  whilst  the  latter  awak- 
ens sympathy,  the  former  does  not  evoke 
rebuke. 

In  regard  to  a  large  number  of  evil  courses 
retribution  usually  follows  without  long  de- 
lay. Sin  never  pays.  The  indulgence  of 
vice  is  not  only  a  crime,  but  a  blunder.  It 
can  never  be  good  in  the  long  run  to  have 
God  against  you. 

When  men  sin,  they  do  it  in  expectation 

70 


''HARD   LINES."  It 

of  happiness ;  the  happiness  does  not  come, 
but  on  the  other  hand  misery.  Not  once 
within  the  past  six  thousand  years  has  a  man 
reaped  a  single  real  advantage  from  doing 
wrong.  In  every  instance  without  excep- 
tion in  which  one  has  violated  conscience, 
he  has  eventually  been  the  poorer  and  the 
sadder  for  it.  Sin  means  sorrow  and  pain, 
whether  the  pain  follow  immediately  or  after 
a  while. 

Fix  this  deeply  on  your  mind,  you  cannot 
contravene  the  laws  of  God  without  suffer- 
ing damage.  Probably  all  men  have  some 
suspicion  of  this  truth,  and  though  they  try 
to  forget  it,  have  a  rooted  conviction  that 
God  will  bring  them  into  judgment  for  their 
sins. 

But  this  is  not  the  point  I  wish  to  press 
just  now.  Will  the  reader  remember  that, 
in  regard  to  a  large  class  of  sins,  retribution 
follows  in  this  present  world  ?  "  The  way  of 
transgressors  is  hard  "  before  they  have  long 
gone  on  in  it. 

At  first  it  promised  to  be  a  pleasant  road. 


72  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

It  looked  flowery,  smooth,  enticing;  but  it 
turned  out  to  be  stony,  rough,  and  rugged. 

Very  tempting  do  many  of  the  avenues  of 
vice  appear.  There  lies  the  danger.  You 
look  down  this  path  and  that,  and  oh,  how 
attractive  is  the  view!  Everything  to  be- 
witch and  charm.  A  greenwood  path,  as  it 
were,  festooned  with  trees,  and  carpeted 
with  flowers !  Such  it  seems  at  its  opening, 
but  as  you  advance  the  vision  vanishes ;  the 
flowery  turf  changes  into  sharp,  rugged 
stones,  and  with  sore  and  bleeding  feet  you 
are  forced  to  own,  " The  way  is  hard!  " 

I  sometimes  think  that,  from  exceptional 
circumstances,  it  has  been  specially  my  lot 
for  a  good  many  years  to  come  in  contact 
with  a  large  number  of  young  men  who  are 
witnesses  to  this  truth. 

I  could  fill  a  volume  with  the  record  of 
instances  that  have  come  under  my  own  per- 
sonal observation,  of  promising  youths,  once 
the  joy  of  their  parents  and  an  ornament  to 
society,  who  in  the  hour  of  temptation  fell, 
and  have  gone  from  bad  to  worse,  till  now 


"HARD   LINES."  73 

the)'-  are  mere  wrecks — situation  gone, 
money  gone,  health  gone,  character  gone, 
power  of  will  gone,  and  all  hope  gone,  and 
they  themselves  very  pictures  of  misery,  fit 
for  nothing  but  to  be  warnings  to  others,  as 
they  wail  forth  the  bitter  confession :  "  The 
way  of  transgressors  is  hard !  " 

Some  time  ago  a  godly  minister  from  the 
country,  who  had  taken  a  special  interest  in 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  young  men,  hap- 
pened to  be  in  London.  Passing  along 
Cheapside  one  day,  he  took  refuge  from  a 
shower  of  rain  in  the  Mansion  House,  where 
the  Lord  Mayor,  was  sitting  in  court.  On 
the  following  morning,  whilst  calling  at  the 
office  of  a  friend,  a  letter  was  handed  to  him, 
which  had  been  thrust  in  under  the  door. 
The  letter  was  as  follows : 

Tuesday  Evening. 
Dear  Sir  :  As  I  was  walking  up  Ludgate  Hill  this 
morning,  you  passed  me.     It  is  ten  years  since  I 

left ,  but  I  knew  you  instantly,  and  forward  this 

line  to  tell  you  that  I  am  glad  to  see  you  looking  so 
well,  and  that  the  sight  of  your  familiar  face  induced 
a  number  of  pleasing  reflections  in  connection  with 


14  BHAV^   AND    TRUE. 

bygone  scenes,  but  of  agonizing  remorse  at  the 
maddening  recollection  that  from  the  neglect  of 
those  principles  which  you  endeavored  to  inculcate, 
I  find  myself  a  young  man  stripped  of  fortune, 
friends,  character,  and  hope  of  the  world  to  come — 
a  mere  wreck,  a  waif  on  the  restless  waves  of  life 
that  sway  to  and  fro  in  this  great  city !  What  would 
I  not  do  to  recall  the  past !  The  text. '  Whatsoever 
a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap,'  thunders  in 
my  conscience  constantly. 

I  find  it  true  in  temporal  affairs  as  well  as  spirit- 
ual. The  next  you  hear  of  me  will  be  in  the  list  of 
those  who  seek  to  bury  their  sorrows  in  the  waters 
of  the  Thames. 

That  a  coffee-house  is  my  study  is  my  only 
excuse  for  this  rude  scrawl.  I  thought  these  feel- 
ings /  had  smothered  forever,  but  conscience  will 
be  heard,  despite  all.  I  wilfully  silence  her,  and 
now  I  can  trace  the  retributive  hand  of  Providence 
in  the  results  of  every  false  step.  I  saw  you  at 
the  Mansion  House  again  in  the  afternoon.  I  hope 
you  will  refrain  from  making  inquiries  as  to  my 
name,  as  it  would  be  labor  thrown  away.  All  I  ask 
is  an  interest  in  your  prayers. 

It  can  well  be  believed  that  the  perusal  of 
this  letter  deeply  touched  the  heart  of  the 
minister,  who,  though  intensely  desirous  to 
find  out  the  writer,  yet,  having  no  clue, 
seemed  to  have  a  hopeless  task  before  him. 
However,  he  determined  he  would  try. 


''Hard  lines:'  75 

Next  morning  the  following  advertise- 
ment appeared  in  the  "agony  column  "  of 
the  Times  newspaper : 

"A  young  man  who  on  the  23d  inst.  ad- 
dressed a  note  to  R.  E.  M.,  which  was  left 
at  an  office  in  Gresham  Street,  is  earnestly 
requested  to  send  his  name  and  address  to 

the  said  R.  E.  M.,  356  Post  Office,  B , 

who  will  be  rejoiced  to  relieve  him." 

Little  was  expected  from  this,  but  it  was 
a  bow  drawn  at  a  venture. 

It  was  not  long  before  a  letter,  addressed 
as  above,  reached  the  minister  by  post.  I 
will  give  it  you  word  for  word : 

City,  Monday, 
Dear  Sir:  I  see  that  time,  that  destroys  all 
things,  has  not  altered  your  character,  ever  kind, 
generous,  and  anxious  to  succor  the  distressed. 
Accept  my  best  and  heartfelt  thanks  for  your  kind 
communication  in  the  Times;  but  I  regret  that  you 
should  have  been  at  the  trouble  and  expense  of 
insertion,  as  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  avail  myself 
of  it  at  the  present.  The  past,  the  present,  and 
the  future  equally  forbid  a  disclosure  of  my  private 
history ;  and  yet  you  are  the  only  person  to  whom 
\  could,  I  think,  unbosom  myself,  or  from  whom  I 


76  BRAVE   AND    TRUE, 

could  seek  advice;  but  not  now.  Do  not  waste 
another  thought  upon  one  who  is  totally  unworthy 
of  everything  but  contempt  and  derision  from  all 
good  men.  Could  I  persuade  myself  that  there  is 
no  hereafter,  how  gladly  would  I  seek  annihilation ! 
But  it  is  a  hopeless  task ;  the  instincts  of  my  better 
part  are  unfortunately  too  truthful  to  be  deluded 
with  a  lie.  What  an  awful  reality  is  life,  and 
what  a  dream  has  been  mine !  Commencing  with 
novel  -  reading,  and  ending  in  vice,  misery,  and 
disease!  Such  are  a  few  of  the  least  evils  I  am 
now  reaping. 

I  remain,  dear  sir,  yours  gratefully, 


Ah!  this  is  but  one  of  hundreds  of  such 
cases  which  occur  every  year  in  our  large 
cities,  ijiany  of  which  indeed  never  come  to 
the  light,  but  terminate  fatally  in  some  dark 
lodging  in  the  slums,  or  in  the  poorhouse, 
or  the  asylum,  or  banishment  beyond  these 
shores.  Were  I  not  bound  to  strict  confi- 
dence, I  could  supply  many  a  letter  as  dis- 
tressing as  the  above;  which,  after  perusal, 
I  have  laid  down  with  a  heavy  sigh,  uncon- 
sciously saying :  "  Verily,  the  way  of  trans- 
gressors is  hard  /  " 

This  page  may  be  read  by  some  who  are 


HARD   LINES."  77 


just  beginning"  to  venture  on  the  perilous 
incline.  Stop!  By  the  grace  of  God  plant 
your  foot  firmly  on  the  line  of  principle  and 
purity.  Have  the  mind  preoccupied  with 
noble  and  inspiring  thoughts,  and  beware  of 
what  Tennyson  calls  "cins  of  emptiness." 


IX. 
THE  CONFIDENTIAL  CLERK. 

SOME  time  ago,  being  in  the  company 
of  a  friend  who  had  acquired  a  consid- 

•  •  •    erable  fortune,  I   took  the  liberty  of 

•  •  •  asking  him,  "  Suppose  you  could  com- 
mand whatever  income  or  capital  you  might 
choose  to  name,  what  is  the  sum  you  would 
specify  as  sufficient  to  make  you  perfectly 
happy? "  His  answer  was  significant. 
Naming  a  certain  figure,  he  added  with 
impressive  emphasis,  "And  a  confidential 
clerk  or  steivard  to  whom  I  could  safely 
entrust  the  management  of  all!" 

Large  possessions  mean  heavy  cares,  and 
many  a  man  with  apparently  an  unlimited 
income    and    a    corresponding    amount   of 

varied  anxiety,  has  confessed  himself  to  be 

78 


THE    CONFIDENTIAL    CLERK.  79 

really  less  happy  than  when  he  was  earning 
the  meagre  salary  of  an  ordinary  clerk. 

A  late  Scotch  nobleman,  being  accom- 
panied one  day  by  a  friend  to  the  top  of  a 
hill  that  overlooked  his  wide  estates,  hon- 
estly acknowledged,  in  reply  to  the  remark, 
"  Surely  your  lordship  must  be  the  happiest 
of  men,"  that  he  did  not  believe  there  was 
in  all  the  country  round  an  individual  more 
ill  at  ease  than  himself.  His  property,  said 
he,  involved  a  burden  of  care,  and  he  had 
no  trustworthy  subordinate  on  whose  shoul- 
ders he  could  lay  it.  To  such  a  man  what 
an  enormous  relief  it  must  be  to  secure  the 
services  of  one  who  makes  his  master's  inter- 
est his  own,  and  who  can  at  all  times  be  im- 
plicitly relied  on! 

In  this  respect,  few  men  have  probably 
been  more  fortunate  than  Abraham.  A 
landed  proprietor  on  an  extensive  scale,  and 
at  the  head  of  an  immense  establishment, 
he  was  one  of  the  great  magnates  of  the 
East. 

But  in  Eliezer  of  Damascus,  who  in  all 


8o  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

likelihood  was  originally  a  slave,  but  whom 
the  patriarch  had  early  attached  to  his  house-^ 
hold,    he   found   one   on   whose   prudence, 
faithfulness,  and  loyalty  he  could  depend. 

So  greatly  did  this  stranger  endear  him- 
self to  his  master  by  his  admirable  character 
afid  trustworthiness,  that  he  rose,  not  only 
to  be  his  chief  servant  and  confidential 
steward,  but — failing  any  issue  to  the  patri- 
arch— to  be  sole  heir  to  all  he  possessed. 

Thank  God,  slavery  in  its  literal  sense  is 
no  longer  the  reproach  and  dishonor  of  our 
fair  land.  But  are  there  not,  even  in  a  free 
country,  positions  of  drudgery  and  toil  that 
are  little  better?  Yet,  from  time  to  time, 
we  meet  with  the  case  of  one  who,  by  sheer 
dint  of  energy  and  exemplary  fidelity,  has 
won  his  way  upward  from  the  very  lowest 
to  almost  the  highest  step  of  the  ladder,  and 
who  becomes,  not  even  a  subordinate,  but 
"a  brother  beloved." 

For  true  highmindedness  and  unselfish 
fidelity,  few  names  on  the  page  of  Scripture 
are  entitled  to  more  respect  than  that  of 


THE    CONFIDENTIAL    CLERK. 


Eliezer  of  Damascus ;  and  his  loyalty  to  the 
interests  of  Abraham  was  not  more  conspic- 
uous than  his  piety. 

As  the  patriarch's  steward  or  confidential 
clerk,  he  took  everything  straight  to  his 
Master  in  heaven;  and  his  prayer  at  the 
well  of  Nahor  was  one  which  every  young 
man  might  profitably  offer  every  morning : 
"  O  Lord  God,  I  pray  thee,  send  me  good 
speed  this  day."  My  earnest  advice  to 
every  youthful  reader  of  these  pages  is  to 
make  this  short  petition  his  own,  and  look 
up  for  the  Divine  blessing  on  everything  he 
undertakes. 

Even  the  strictest  fidelity  to  your  earthly 
master  will  not  take  the  place  of  faithfulness 
to  God.  When  M.  Colbert,  a  successful 
merchant  in  France,  was  laid  down  with  his 
last  illness,  a  letter  was  brought  to  him 
from  the  king,  but  he  refused  so  much  as  to 
have  it  read  to  him.  "  Let  him  leave  me  in 
peace,"  exclaimed  he.  "Had  I  done  for  my 
God  what  I  have  done  for  that  man,  I  would 
be  happier  now."     It  was  a  remarkable  ex- 


82  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

pression  from  dying  lips,  showing  that  it  is 
quite  possible,,  with  all  worldy  integrity  and 
success,  to  forget  that  there  is  One  above  to 
whom  we  are  first  of  all  responsible.  The 
mere  making  of  money,  whether  for  our- 
selves or  for  our  superior,  comes  a  long  way 
short  of  indicating  a  successful  life;  to  be 
worth  having  or  earning,  it  must  have  the 
blessing  of  God  resting  upon  it.  When 
Jacob  Astor,  the  well-known  millionaire 
who  by  his  own  abilities  had  raised  himself 
from  a  very  humble  position  to  be  one  of 
the  foremost  men  in  the  United  States,  was 
dying,  he  asked  to  be  supplied  with  a  sheet 
of  paper  and  a  pencil ;  and  what  do  you  sup- 
pose he  wrote  ?  The  man  who  had  been  the 
envy  of  all  his  fellows,  and  who  had  amassed 
more  money  than  he  knew  what  to  do  with, 
scratched  with  his  trembling  hand  the  mel- 
y  ancholy  confession,  "  My  life  has  been  a  fail- 
ure !  Ah !  my  reader,  your  life  too  must  in 
the  end  prove  a  failure,  unless  the  smile  of 
God  rests  upon  you. 

I   am    struck    with    the    earnestness    of 


THE    CONFIDENTIAL    CLERK.  83 

Eliezer's  prayers  for  his  master.  "Show 
kindness,"  he  entreats,  "unto  my  master, 
Abraham."  Young  men!  Do  you  pray  for 
your  employers?  Do  you  invoke  the  Divine 
blessing  on  the  firm  under  which  you  serve? 

It  is  an  unspeakable  advantage  to  any 
mercantile  house  to  have  godly  assistants 
employed  in  it;  to  have  decidedly  Christian 
men  at  the  head  of  the  various  departments ; 
to  have  as  confidential  clerk  a  man  who  has 
the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes.  The 
prayers  of  such  men  will  do  more  to  bring 
true  prosperity  to  the  establishment  than 
all  the  sharp  tricks  of  persons  who  have  no 
higher  thought  than  to  make  gain. 

It  is  a  fine  thing  to  see  young  men  who 
have  no  selfish  ends  to  promote,  and  who 
perhaps  get  no  commission  or  percentage  of 
profit  on  the  business  they  turn  over,  work- 
ing as  diligently  as  if  all  the  proceeds  went 
straight  into  their  own  pockets.  They  will 
be  no  losers  in  the  end. 

Let  every  morning,  then,  find  you  taking 
this  double  prayer  to  your  Father  in  heaven : 


BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 


"  O  Lord  God,  I  pray  Thee,  send  me  good 
speed  this  day,  and  show  kindness  to  my 
master." 

What  a  different  atmosphere  would  there 
be  in  the  commercial  world,  if  this  practice 
were  -universal! 

In  sailing  out  of  some  of  our  great  har- 
bors one  may  sometimes  see  a  green  and 
tattered  flag  floating  over  a  broken  but 
invisible  hulk,  with  the  word  "Wreck" 
inscribed  upon  it,  and  seeming  to  say, 
"Here  a  ship  went  down."  So  I  am  ever 
and  anon  coming  across  some  wasted,  ruined 
life,  and  therefore  I  am  urgent  in  entreating 
every  reader  of  these  pages  to  go  to  the 
proper  quarter  for  blessing  and  success. 


X. 

OUT  OF  A  SITUATION. 

/^F  the  host  of  young  men  who  every 
^^     week  find  their  way  to  the  cities,  it 

•  •  •    is  only  a  limited  number  who  come  to 

•  •  •  enter  vacant  situations  already  secured 
for  them ;  the  majority  have  just  to  look  out 
for  themselves. 

In  truth,  a  good  many  had  been  wiser  not 
to  come  at  all.  In  not  a  few  distant  country 
places  it  is  quite  a  common  notion,  that  if  a 
youth  can  only  scrape  together  as  much 
money  as  will  pay  his  way  to  the  city,  he  is 
pretty  sure,  within  forty-eight  hours  of  his 
arrival,  to  find  a  berth  exactly  to  his  mind. 
Possibly  he  believes  that  so  valuable  an  ac- 
quisition as  he  will  be  eagerly  sought  after. 

Too  often  the  illusion  vanishes  when  his 
feet  patter  on  the  hard  pavements. 
85 


86  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

The  stranger  is  mortified  to  find  that  no 
one  wants  him,  and  that  the  big  city  can 
manage  to  get  on  without  him.  At  times  I 
have  not  known  whether  most  to  be  amused 
or  distressed  at  the  expression  of  vexed  sur- 
prise on  the  face  of  some  new-comer,  who 
had  evidently  expected  many  an  open  door 
of  welcome.  The  first  bitter  experience  in 
life  has  not  seldom  been  the  cold  rebuffs 
met  with  by  such  a  too  sanguine  adventurer. 

What  a  curious  picture  of  Eastern  life  is 
that  which  our  Lord  incidentally  gives  us  in 
one  of  His  parables,  where  we  read  of  a 
land-owner  who  has  plenty  of  work  to  be 
done  on  his  property,  but  finds  a  scarcity  of 
men  ready  to  undertake  it ! 

But  on  going  to  the  market-place,  he  sees 
no  lack  of  idlers  there.  It  matters  not  at 
what  hour — be  it  nine  in  the  morning,  or 
noon,  or  three,  or  five  P.  M.,  as  often  as  he 
goes  he  finds  lazy,  indolent  fellows  loafing 
about  waiting  for  somebody  to  come  and  put 
bread  in  their  mouths. 

"  Why  are  you  standing  here  all  the  day 


OUT    OF  A    SITUATION.  87 

idle?  "  he  inquires.  "Because  no  man  has 
hired  us."  It  seems  never  to  have  occurred 
to  any  of  them  just  to  step  round  among 
the  vineyards,  and  see  whether  they  could 
not  find  a  job.  I  suppose  they  would  sooner 
starve  than  bestir  themselves  to  seek  for 
honest  employment. 

Such  fellows  are  not  unknown  characters 
in  any  of  our  large  towns ;  and  they  claim 
not  a  particle  of  sympathy.  The  idle  man 
—  I  mean  the  man  who  is  content  to  be 
idle — is  an  annoyance,  a  nuisance.  He  is 
of  no  benefit  to  anybody,  an  intruder  in 
the  busy  thoroughfare  of  life  —  like  a 
"crawling  cab,"  hindering  the  traffic,  block- 
ing the  way. 

There  is  nothing  more  demoralizing  than 
idleness.  Industry,  as  Isaac  Barrow  says, 
is  a  fence  to  virtue.  "You  are  right,"  said 
Frederick  the  Great  to  a  friend,  "  in  suppos- 
ing that  I  work  hard.  I  do  so  in  order  to 
live,  for  nothing  has  more  resemblance  to 
death  than  idleness." 

Better  turn  a  cutler's  grindstone  all  day 


88  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

long,  than  loiter  about  with  the  hands 
plunged  in  the  pockets  of  your  trousers. 

In  the  Louvre,  at  Paris,  the  anvil  is  still 
exhibited  at  which  Louis  XVL  was  in  the 
habit,  with  the  smith's  apron  on,  of  endeav- 
oring to  keep  his  energies  employed.  Idlers 
are  the  very  stock  out  of  which  gamblers, 
drunkards,  and  suicides  are  formed.  When 
a  man  has  nothing  to  do,  his  spirit  sours,  his 
manhood  withers.  Old  Dumbiedykes  bid 
his  son  to  be  "  aye  stickin'  in  a  tree,  when 
he  had  nothing  else  to  do" ;  and  the  advice 
was  sound.  We  are  often  told  of  persons 
who  kill  themselves  by  over- work ;  but  of 
this  I  am  certain,  that  many  a  life  is  short- 
ened through  sheer  ennui  and  aimlessness. 

I  shall  presume,  however,  that  amongst 
my  readers  are  some  who  detest  idleness, 
but  for  the  life  of  them  can  find  nothing 
to  do.  They  have  strained  every  effort  to  get 
a  situation,  but  to  this  hour  are  as  far  from 
it  as  ever. 

Oh !  it  is  chilling  to  go  to  this  house  of 
business  and  that,  to  call  on  one  and  another, 


OUT   OF  A    SITUATION.  89 

and  yet  another  employer  of  labor,  or  head 
of  a  firm,  and  find  that  there  are  no  hands 
wanted,  to  tramp  the  weary  streets  day  after 
day,  knocking  at  every  door  that  offers  a  ray 
of  hope,  presenting  testimonials  that  seem 
all  that  could  be  desired,  and  yet  at  the 
day's  close  to  be  no  nearer  an  appointment 
than  before.  It  is  very  trying.  I  confess 
my  heart  has  often  bled  for  such  a  youth. 

And  yet  I  am  bound  to  say  that  in  many 
cases  I  have  known,  the  individual  himself 
has  been  largely  to  blame;  perhaps  too 
lightly  throwing  up  one  situation  before 
another  has  been  secured,  or  coveting  a  line 
of  calling  for  which  his  talents  did  not  fit 
him.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  what 
Sydney  Smith  said :  "  Be  what  nature  in- 
tended you  for,  and  you  will  succeed;  be 
anything  else,  and  you  will  be  a  thousand 
times  worse  than  nothing."  Every  lad  who 
is  to  get  on  in  the  world  must  study  his  own 
aptitudes.  How  many  young  fellows  prove 
total  failures,  simply  because  they  have  mis- 
taken the  line  for  which  God  designed  them ; 


90  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

whilst  others,  with  less  talents,  have  met 
with  brilliant  success,  because  they  got  into 
their  appropriate  groove. 

Young  Ferguson's  wooden  clock  gave 
promise  of  the  future  astronomer ;  Humphrey 
Davy's  boyish  experiments  were  a  hint 
of  the  coming  chemical  philosopher;  Far- 
aday's electric  machine,  made  with  a  big 
bottle ;  Watt's  study  of  the  steam  of  the  tea- 
kettle; Michael  Angelo's  pencil  sketchings 
at  school — all  these  showed  the  bent  of  each 
young  mind,  and  are  in  keeping  with  the 
answer  of  a  certain  splendid  equestrian, 
when  asked  how  he  sat  so  gracefully  on  the 
saddle,  "Oh,"  said  he,  "I  was  born  on 
horseback ! " 

But — I  come  back  to  my  point.  It  is  sel- 
dom there  are  not  some,  who,  through  no 
fault  of  their  own,  either  fail  to  find  an 
opening,  or  are  thrown  out  of  situations 
which  they  have  filled — Christian  young 
men,  too,  it  may  be;  and  they  get  sadly 
despondent.  Perhaps  this  page  meets  the 
eye  of  the  very  youth  I  am  describing,  who 


OUT   OF  A    SITUATION.  Qr 

has  tramped  the  city  for  days  without  suc- 
cess, and  is  utterly  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  It 
may  encourage  you  to  know  that  not  a  few 
men  who  became  famous  for  their  commer- 
cial success  were  at  first  almost  in  despair 
like  yourself.  George  Moore,  the  distin- 
guished London  merchant,  who  died  about 
twelve  years  ago,  came  from  a  quiet  home 
in  Cumberland  when  he  was  nineteen  years 
of  age,  and  determined  to  find  a  sphere  of 
usefulness  in  the  metropolis.  Many  was  the 
rub  and  snub  he  had  to  put  up  with.  "  It 
seemed,"  he  said,  "as  if  nobody  would  have 

me.     The  keenest  cut  of  all  was  from , 

of  Holborn :  he  asked  me  if  I  wanted  a  por- 
ter's situation.  This  almost  broke  my 
heart." 

But  on  he  plodded  and  persevered;  and 
as  soon  as  one  door  was  shut  against  him, 
he  tried  another.  At  last  he  met  with  his 
reward.  And  at  the  close  of  his  marvellously 
successful  life  he  acknowledged  that  he  could 
see  God's  faithful  and  guiding  hand  all 
through  his  career,  and  that  those  early  dis- 


92  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

appointments  proved  to  be  for  his  good. 
Do  not  lose  heart,  young  friend :  there  is 
still  room  for  you.  See  that  the  grass  does 
not  grow  under  your  feet;  leave  no  stone 
unturned  till  you  secure  an  opening;  lay 
your  case  before  God,  looking  in  faith  for 
His  guidance;  and  comfort  yourself  with 
the  cheering  assurance  (Deut.  ii.  7) :  "  He 
knoweth  thy  walking  through  this  great 
wilderness." 


XI. 

''A  CHIP  OF  THE  OLD  BLOCK." 

"^A  /"HOSE  son  art  thou,  young  man?" 
»   '    was    the    first    question     addressed 

•  •  •    by  King   Saul   to   the   rosy-cheeked 

•  •  •  stripling  of  Bethlehem,  when,  intro- 
duced by  Abner  into  the  royal  presence, 
David  stood  before  him,  holding  Goliath's 
head  in  his  hand. 

A  question  it  is,  which  one  is  always 
ready  to  address  to  a  youth  of  distinction 
and  promise. 

Character  is  often  moulded  by  parentage, 
and  qualities  moral,  intellectual,  and  phys- 
ical are  transmitted  from  father  and  son.  In 
numerous  instances  we  see  certain  tenden- 
cies and  idiosyncrasies  handed  down  through 
successive  generations. 

Sometimes  it  is  positively  amusing. 

93 


94  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

Without  a  mistake  I  can  recognize  in  that 
boy's  handwriting  the  pen  of  his  father,  and 
of  his  grandfather,  too.  In  other  cases  we 
see  the  hereditary  transmission  in  peculiari- 
ties of  figure,  or  stature,  or  gesture ;  in  the 
tone  of  the  voice,  in  hesitancy  or  volubility 
of  utterance,  in  dimness  or  nearness  of  sight, 
or  perhaps  in  the  early  whitening  of  the 
hair,  or,  what  is  worse,  the  loss  of  it.  Some 
families  are  noted  for  longevity,  others  for 
good  looks,  others  for  love  of  adventure. 
The  aquiline  nose  runs  in  the  line  of  the 
Bonapartes,  the  large  lip  in  the  House  of 
Hapsburg,  the  bald  head  in  the  House  of 
Hanover. 

In  some  instances  there  is  a  certain  expres- 
sion of  countenance  traceable  to  the  third  or 
fourth  generation.  I  call  upon  a  young  man 
at  his  lodgings,  and  take  up  the  portrait- 
album  on  his  table;  and  instantly  I  say, 
pointing  to  a  photograph  there,  though  I 
never  saw  the  original,  "  Ah,  you  don't  need 
to  tell  me  who  that  is;  one  can  see  at  a 
glance  that  you  are  a  ' chip  of  the  old  block. '" 


*'A   CHIP    OF    THE    OLD    BLOCK."  95 

Mental  qualities  are  transmitted  too. 
Without  mucli  knowledge  of  phrenology,  I 
have  only  to  look  at  that  lad's  head,  to  see 
from  the  configuration  of  it  that,  like  his 
father,  he  is  a  mechanical  genius ;  in  another 
case  it  is  musical  talent  that  descends;  in 
another  the  taste  for  painting;  in  a  fourth 
the  love  of  poetry ;  and  in  a  fifth  the  gift  of 
acquiring  languages. 

And,  what  is  yet  more  noticeable,  moral 
tendencies,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent,  pass 
on  from  parent  to  child. 

Not  long  since  I  heard  of  a  case  in  which 
a  confirmed  slave  of  alcohol  actually  said, 
"  My  father  was  a  tippler,  my  grandfather 
was  a  drinker  before  him,  I  shall  be  a  drunk- 
ard too ;  we  belong  to  a  race  of  inebriates. 
I  may  as  well  accept  my  fate,  it  cannot  be 
helped." 

So  a  fiery  temper  seems  in  certain  in- 
stances to  be  perpetuated  in  successive  gen- 
erations; the  father  fiercely  passionate,  the 
son  and  gprandson  irate  too.  There  are  con- 
spicuous cases  of  close-fisted   greed   being 


gO  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

ancestral ;  the  old  gentleman  would  save  up 
every  penny  he  could  scrape  together,  his 
son  is  a  miser,  his  grandson  a  screw. 
You  never  hear  of  any  member  of  that  fam- 
ily giving  money  for  a  good  object;  they 
are  all  born  to  handle  the  rake  rather  than 
the  pitchfork,  to  gather  together  rather 
than  to  scatter  abroad. 

On  the  other  hand,  noble  and  generous 
features  of  character  appear  sometimes  to 
run  in  the  blood.  You  are  kind  and  warm- 
hearted, your  parents  were  so  before  you. 
You  are  sternly  upright  and  truthful — a 
more  scrupulously  straightforward  man  than 
your  father  never  lived. 

Those  well-thumbed  volumes  of  Puritan 
theology  in  your  bookshelves ;  that  big  old- 
fashioned  Bible,  bearing  date  of  more  than 
a  century  ago ;  they  tell  what  kind  of  a  stock 
you  have  come  from,  and  what  a  legacy  of 
prayer  you  have  fallen  heir  to.  Ah!  if 
there  is  anything  like  a  pious  momentum 
coming  from  a  long  line  of  Christian  progen- 
itors, some  of  us  ought  to  be  godly  indeed. 


'•A   CHIP    OF    THE    OLD    BLOCK:'  97 

St.  Paul  was  not  afraid  of  being  misunder- 
stood by  Timothy  when  he  wrote  to  him, 
"  I  thank  God  when  I  call  to  remembrance 
the  unfeigned  faith  that  is  in  thee,  which 
dwelt  first  in  thy  grandmother  Lois,  and  thy 
mother  Eunice." 

And  this  suggests  the  thought  that  on 
the  mother's  side,  perhaps  even  more  than 
on  the  father's,  this  law  of  heredity  seems 
to  prevail.  The  finger  of  history  points  to 
many  a  gifted  man  whose  talents  undoubt- 
edly came  to  him  in  the  maternal  line :  his 
mother  was  a  noble  woman,  and  her  finest 
qualities  were  reproduced  and  intensified  in 
her  son. 

It  is  of  such  ancestry  that  one  may  honor- 
ably be  proud.  Some  very  weak  persons 
talk  of  blue  blood,  and  of  their  high  connec- 
tions, and  their  family  crest,  and  so  forth : 
forgetting  that  it  would  be  something  incom- 
parably greater  to  boast  of  if  they  could  tell 
of  a  saintly  lineage,  or  of  progenitors  who 
by  their  good  works  had  proved  a  blessing 
to  the  world. 


98  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

Blue  blood,  as  it  is  called,  is  by  no  means 
the  purest  blood.  There  are  some  of  the 
highest  families  in  the  land  whom  it  would 
hardly  be  polite  to  remind  of  their  ancestry ; 
the  less  said  upon  that  subject  the  better. 
Probably  there  are  not  a  few  among  my 
humbler  readers  who  have  more  reason  to 
be  proud  of  their  pedigree  than  could  they 
trace  it  to  a  royal  family.  The  purest  blood 
on  earth  is  that  which  for  successive  genera- 
tions has  flowed  down  through  a  high-toned 
and  godly  ancestry.  This  throws  all  other 
nobility  and  aristocracy  into  the  shade. 
Not  that  one  will  be  a  good  man  merely 
because  his  forefathers  were  so  before  him. 
It  is  but  too  plain  that  grace  does  not  run  in 
the  blood. 

If  a  man  owes  his  reputation  to  nothing 
more  than  the  fragrance  that  hangs  about 
his  ancestor's  name,  one  may  almost  say,  in 
the  words  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  that  he 
is  something  like  a  potato,  for  the  best  part 
of  him  is  underground. 

Still,  it  is  an  unspeakable  advantage   to 


''^  CHIP    OF    THE    OLD    BLOCK:  99 

have  been  born  and  brought  up  in  a  Chris- 
tian home.  When  the  earliest  recollections 
are  linked  with  beautiful  and  benignant 
piety,  and  with  all  the  gracious  influences 
that  gather  round  the  family  Bible  and  the 
domestic  altar,  it  is  a  valuable  help  to  a  man 
going  out  to  rough  it  in  the  world. 

A  long  line  of  godly  inheritance  is  some- 
thing that  one  may  be  pardoned  for  rejoic- 
ing in.  If  you  can  point  to  a  genealogical 
tree  of  your  family,  and  show  that  root, 
stem,  branch,  and  twig  were  all  holy,  you 
have  good  cause  to  thank  God,  and  to  esteem 
yourself  as  belonging  to  the  peerage  of  the 
skies.     Well  did  Cowper  say : — 

My  boast  is  not  that  I  deduce  my  birth 
From  loins  enthroned,  the  rulers  of  the  earth ; 
But  higher  far  my  proud  pretensions  rise. 
The  son  of  parents  passed  into  the  skies. 

It  is  a  terrible  aggravation  of  a  young 
man's  gfuilt  when  his  daily  life  is  a  contra- 
diction to  his  father's  counsels  and  his 
mother's  prayers;  when  the  child  of  a 
Christian  home  tramples  on  all  the  sacred 


BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 


memories  and  traditions  of  the  past,  and  de- 
terminately  breaks  through  the  moral  fences 
that  had  been  set  around  him.  Such  per- 
sons generally  make  a  sad  rebound.  The 
worst  of  men  are  apostates  from  the  purest 
faith.  Tell  me  what  good  influences  a  youth 
has  resisted  and  defied,  and  I  will  almost 
calculate  the  depth  of  his  depravity.  I 
never  knew  an  instance  of  a  son  of  godly 
parentage  becoming  an  outcast  who  did  not 
fall  even  lower  than  the  average  of  profli- 
gates. And,  on  the  other  hand,  in  every 
case  I  have  met  with — and  happily  they  are 
not  a  few — of  the  offspring  of  reprobates 
turning  out  virtuous  and  God-fearing  men, 
there  has  been  a  corresponding  upward  re- 
bound, to  the  praise  of  Him  whose  grace 
has  oft-times  found  the  brightest  diamonds 
in  the  darkest  mines,  and  the  richest  pearls 
in  the  deepest  sea ! 


XII. 
FOOLISH    PARTRIDGES. 

THOSE  of  us  who  have  been  brought  up 
in  the  country  and  are  not  unfamiliar 

•  •  •    with  poultry,  have  sometimes  noticed 

•  •  •    beside   a    duck -pond   a  very   amusing 
sight. 

For  my  own  part,  I  know,  I  have  laughed 
outright  at  the  astonishment  and  dismay  of 
a  respectable  barn-door  hen  standing  by  the 
edge  of  a  pond,  when  a  whole  group  of  tiny 
ducklings,  which  she  has  hatched  and 
tended  with  motherly  care,  plunge  into 
their  natural  element,  the  water,  and  seem 
to  say  to  their  foster-parent,  "  Follow  us,  if 
you  can!" 

The  partridge,  it  is  said,  is  in  the  habit  of 
stealing  eggs  from  the  nests  of  other  birds 
of  a  different  species  from  herself,  and  of 


BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 


sitting  Upon  them;  and  when,  soon  after 
those  eggs  are  hatched,  the  young  birds  for- 
sake their  false  parent,  and  associate  with 
birds  of  their  own  order,  the  old  partridge 
looks  uncommonly  foolish,  as  she  sees  all 
her  promising  brood  desert  her.  The  an- 
cient prophet  apparently  refers  to  this  habit 
when  he  says : — 

"As  the  partridge  sitteth  on  eggs,  and 
hatcheth  them  not  (for  herself),  so  he  that 
getteth  riches,  and  not  by  right,  shall  leave 
them  in  the  midst  of  his  days,  and  at  his 
end  shall  be  a  fool." 

So  that  there  are  other  bipeds  besides 
hens  and  partridges,  that  by  possessing 
themselves  of  that  which  does  not  rightfully 
belong  to  them,  and  losing  it  when  it  is 
most  desired,  prove  in  the  end  to  be  but 
fools. 

Be  it  clearly  observed,  that  the  Bible  has 
nothing  to  say  against  a  man's  getting  rich 
by  just  and  honorable  means.  The  pietistic 
slang  sometimes  heard  in  certain  quarters 
against  the  acquisition  of  wealth  has  no  en- 


FOOLISH  PARTRIDGES.  103 

couragement  in  the  Word  of  God.  No- 
where does  Scripture  assert,  as  it  is  some- 
times misquoted,  that  "  money  is  the  root  of 
all  evil."  On  the  contrary,  it  declares  that 
"money  is  a  defence,"  and  that  "it  answer- 
eth  all  things."  In  spite  of  all  that  is  said 
against  it,  it  is  a  powerful  instrument  in 
doing  good ;  if  it  comes  to  you  honorably, 
and  goes  from  you  usefully,  it  is  one  of  the 
greatest  blessings  you  can  possess. 

The  need  of  it,  and  a  moderate  desire  for 
it,  prove  a  valuable  incentive  to  industry. 

We  would  not  be  assured  that  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Lord  maketh  rich,  if  wealth  were 
necessarily  an  evil. 

A  fine  healthy  sight  it  is  to  see  every 
morning  in  our  large  commercial  cities  the 
thousands  of  young  men  pressing  into  the 
city  in  'bus  or  car,  or  better  still  on  their 
own  two  feet,  eager  for  business,  and  deter- 
mined to  get  on. 

The  lad  who  knows  nothing  of  such  ardor 
is  not  half  a  man,  and  does  not  deserve  to 
succeed.     By   all   means   throw   yourselves 


104  BRAVE    AND     TRUE. 

heartily  into  business ;  go  at  it  with  all  the 
vigor  and  brains  you  have,  and  God  grant 
that  many  a  youthful  reader  of  these  pages 
may  be  a  merchant  prince  some  day ! 

Why  not?  I  have  myself  known  not  a 
few  young  men  within  the  past  five-and- 
twenty  years  beginning  on  most  moderate 
salaries,  who  worked  hard,  stuck  to  their 
business,  kept  clear  of  debt,  and  wrote  a 
good  clear  hand!  and  now  their  signature  is 
worth  many  thousands. 

Christian  wealth  is  clean  money. 

No  reason  why,  with  the  grace  of  God,  a 
devotedly  pious  man  should  not  be  conspic- 
uously prosperous.  Thank  God, many  a  camel 
has  gone  through  the  eye  of  a  needle,  spirit- 
ually; for  with  God  all  things  are  possible. 

But  riches,  unrighteously  gotten,  never 
bring  a  blessing.  It  is  our  Maker's  design, 
you  may  be  sure,  that  wealth  should  be  begot- 
ten of  honest  industry,  of  real  hard  work ; 
and  those  who  acquire  it  otherwise  will  have 
little  joy  with  it. 

The  man  who  sets  himself  to  make  money 


FOOLISH  PARTRIDGES.  1 05 

by  sharp  practice,  or  by  one  of  the  many 
forms  of  gambling,  may  possibly  meet  with 
a  certain  success;  the  process  of  financial 
incubation  may  for  a  time  seem  to  be  going 
on  well ;  but  by  and  by,  in  all  likelihood, 
when  the  egg-shells  burst,  the  fortunes  he 
had  looked  for  will  take  wings  and  fly  away, 
leaving  the  nest  empty,  and  the  poor  disap-. 
pointed  man  nothing  better  than  a  fool. 

It  seems  to  the  rogue,  said  Thomas  Car- 
lyle,  that  he  has  found  out  "a  northwest 
passage  "  to  wealth,  but  he  soon  discovers 
that  fraudulence  is  not  only  a  crime,  but  a 
blunder. 

Strict  fidelity  still  fetches  a  high  price  in 
the  market.  To  a  young  man  who  wrote  to 
him  for  advice,  John  Bright  replied :  "  In 
my  judgment  the  value  of  a  high  character 
for  honor  and  honesty  in  business  cannot  be 
estimated  too  highly,  and  it  will  often  stand 
for  more  in  the  conscience  and  even  in  the 
ledger,  than  all  that  can  be  gained  by 
shabby  and  dishonest  transactions." 

Said  a  pawky  Scotch  farmer  to  his  son : — 


io6  BRAVE   AND    TRUM. 

"John,  honesty  is  the  best  policy;  I  have 
tried  both  ways  myself." 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  there  is  a 
good  deal  more  unrighteousness  in  the  mer- 
cantile world  than  most  men  are  willing  to 
allow.  Too  often  there  is  one  code  of  virtue 
for  the  home-circle,  and  another  code  for 
the  office,  or  shop,  or  factory — one  system 
of  morals  for  the  Sunday,  and  another  for 
the  week-day. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  thousands  of  men 
are  far  more  ready  to  be  benevolent  than  to 
be  just.  Mr.  Gladstone  once  observed,  "  I 
would  almost  dare  to  say  there  are  five  gen- 
erous men  for  one  just  man.  The  passions 
will  often  ally  themselves  with  generosity, 
but  they  always  tend  to  divert  from  justice." 
You  cannot  be  too  particular,  therefore,  in 
seeing  to  it  that  every  penny  you  put  in 
your  pocket  is  money  "got  by  right."  You 
cannot  be  too  scrupulous  in  regard  to  the 
straightforwardness  of  all  your  business 
transactions.  Why,  the  late  George  Moore, 
the  rich  and  self-made  London  merchant, 


FOOLISH  PARTRIDGES.  1 07 

would  throw  all  the  clerks  in  his  great  es- 
tablishment into  a  ferment  because  a  trifling 
amount  had  been  charged,  for  which  no 
voucher  could  be  found.  This  was  not  be- 
cause he  was  mean  or  shabby,  but  because  a 
principle  was  involved ;  and  it  was  the  same 
to  him  whether  the  amount  was  small  or 
large. 

The  Nemesis  that  follows  ill-gotten  gains 
generally  follows  even  in  this  life. 

"In  the  midst  of  his  days,"  says  the 
prophet,  the  fraudulent  man  and  his  riches 
shall  part  company.  Some  unexpected  turn 
comes,  some  monetary  crisis,  some  commer- 
cial disaster,  and,  lo !  all  his  hoarded  gains 
take  wing  and  fly  away,  and  the  poor  un- 
principled man  is  left  like  the  silly  partridge 
to  sit  disconsolate  in  an  empty  nest ! 

But,  even  though  it  remains  with  him,  ill- 
gotten  wealth  never  makes  its  owner  truly 
happy.  Ah!  there  are  plutocrats  whose 
tables  are  covered  with  silver  plate,  who 
drink  their  sparkling  champagne,  and  roll 
along   the  streets   in   their  sumptuous  car- 


lo8  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

riages,  wliose  hearts  are  yet  unutterably 
miserable.  A  worm  is  gnawing  at  the  root. 
Their  fortune  has  been  built  upon  a  basis  of 
deception  bringing  with  it  bitter  remorse, 
and  though  friends  may  flatter,  an  upbraid- 
ing voice  from  the  unseen  is  ever  whisper- 
ing in  their  ear  one  little  word  of  four 
letters,  and  two  of  them  the  same — "Fool!" 
"  So  is  he  that  layeth  up  treasure  for  him- 
self, and  is  not  rich  toward  God." 


XIII. 

"PLANTS  GROWN  UP  IN  THEIR 
YOUTH." 

SCENE:  a  handsome  Oriental  residence; 
enter,  and  look  around.     The  form  is 

•  •  •  quadrangular:     in    the   centre   is     an 

•  •  •  open  court  or    square,   with   windows 
looking  into  it  from  every  side. 

The  ancients,  in  their  building  arrange- 
ments, did  just  the  opposite  of  what  we  do. 
We  construct  our  houses  with  the  gardens 
in  front  or  behind.  They  built  theirs  with 
the  gardens  inside.  And  so,  when  you  en- 
tered the  porch,  you  found  yourself  in  a 
court,  with  the  rooms  all  around.  In  the 
houses  of  the  wealthy  this  court  was  laid  out 
with  wonderful  taste,  adorned  with  shrubs 
and    trees,  with  fountains  and    fish-ponds, 

and  elegant  statuary.     In  some  instances  it 
109 


no  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

was  paved  with  colored  marbles,  shadowed 
by  olive  and  acacia  trees,  and  surrounded 
by  a  piazza,  whose  entablature  rested  on 
columns  or  pilasters,  which  were  frequently 
carved  after  the  figure  of  a  graceful  woman 
dressed  in  long  robes. 

Now,  I  think  the  reader  will  catch  the 
thought  I  wish  to  emphasize. 

In  that  central  court  there  are  two  prom- 
inent objects  that  arrest  the  eye:  the  one 
being  the  young  but  sturdy  trees  that  grow 
up  so  vigorous  and  tall  within  the  sheltered 
inclosure,  and  the  other  the  polished  pillars 
or  pilasters  that  stand  so  elegantly  around ; 
and  to  the  poetic  mind  of  the  ancient  Psalm- 
ist they  were  respectively  the  suggestive 
emblems  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  a 
pious  and  prosperous  household. 

Happy  thought!  Would  that  it  were 
illustrated  in  all  the  homes  of  our  land ! 

Perhaps  it  may  seem  at  first  glance  as  if 
the  two  emblems  should  be  reversed:  the 
daughters  being  the  graceful  trees  which 
grow  up  within  the  atrium  or  court,  and  the 


''PLANTS  GROWN  UP  IN  THEIR  YOUTH."  ill 

sons  the  solid  pillars  that  support  the  build- 
ing. But  the  writer  guides  his  pen  wisely: 
and  whilst  my  special  aim  at  present  is  to 
justify  the  metaphor  he  applies  to  right- 
minded  and  well-doing  young  men,  it  will 
not  be  denied  that  the  girls  are  an  equally 
important  part  of  a  Christian  household — 
that  virtuous  daughters  unite  families  and 
bind  them  as  corner-stones  join  walls  to- 
gether; and  that,  like  polished  pilasters, 
they  contribute  at  once  to  the  security  and 
the  comeliness  of  the  structure. 

When  sons  are  nobles  in  spirit,  and 
daughters  are  maids  of  honor,  the  home  be- 
comes a  palace.  Would  that  all  our  homes 
were  after  this  pattern !  "  Happy  the  peo- 
ple that  is  in  such  a  case ;  yea,  happy  is  that 
people  whose  God  is  the  Lord." 

Our  sons  are  as  "  plants  grown  up  in  their 
youth."  This  does  not  mean  overgrown 
lads  —  boys  that  are  prematurely  men  — 
old  heads  on  young  shoulders ;  for  if  there 
is  an  objectionable  class  of  beings,  it  is 
this. 


BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 


Sometimes  we  hear  the  excuse  offered  for 
the  follies  of  youth,  "  Boys  will  be  boys" ; 
but  what  else  would  you  have  them  to  be? 
In  my  opinion  a  more  frequent  mistake  is 
that  "Boys  will  be  men."  Before  their 
beards  are  as  long  as  their  teeth,  they  put 
on  the  airs  and  assume  the  importance  of 
full-grown  adults.  The  smooth-cheeked 
laddie  who  is  just  from  school  struts  along 
the  pavement  with  his  high  hat,  and  his 
cane,  and  his  cigar,  and  everything  but  the 
conception  what  a  little  fool  he  is:  and 
youths  from  sixteen  to  twenty,  who  ought 
to  know  better,  think  it  manly  to  drink 
stimulants  for  which  they  have  no  liking, 
and  to  frequent  places  of  amusement  where 
they  will  learn  nothing  that  is  good. 

No,  no;  the  beautiful  simile  before  us 
countenances  no  folly  of  that  sort.  But,  if 
it  is  foolish  for  a  lad  to  ape  the  man,  there 
is  something  that  is  decidedly  worse:  and 
that  is  for  one  who  has  reached  the  years  of 
manhood  to  be  still,  in  taste  and  intelli- 
gence, only  a  boy. 


''PLANTS  GROWN  UP  IN  THEIR  YOUTH."  113 

In  truth  we  sometimes  see  it — the  jacket 
and  the  satchel  have  been  thrown  aside,  but 
little  else.  There  is  still  the  same  frivolity 
and  want  of  ballast,  the  same  idle  larking 
and  practical  joking,  and  disinclination  for 
sober  work,  which  were  pardonable  in  a 
boy,  but  which  are  inexcusable  in  a  man. 
The  pleasing  picture  before  the  Psalmist's 
mind,  as  he  gazes  on  the  blooming  palms, 
olives,  and  acacias  that  skirt  the  atriutUy  is 
therefore  not  of  any  abnormal  precocity,  but 
of  vigorous,  healthful,  upright,  manly,  and 
ingenuous  youth ;  and  he  feels  that  this,  if 
realized,  would  be  the  highest  glory  of  the 
land.  God  grant  that,  in  this  sense,  our 
sons  may  be  as  plants  grown  up  in  their 
youth.     It  is  suggestive — 

I.   Of  a  healthful,  vigorous  frame. 

The  type  of  man  you  generally  associate 
with  a  boxer,  a  wrestler,  or  prize-fighter  is 
not  exactly  the  highest  ideal  of  humanity. 

That  mountain  of  flesh  and  sinew  and 
bone  may  compete  with  an  ox ;  he  may  form 
a  good  exhibit  at  a  cattle  show ;  but  as  re- 


114  BRAVE   AND    TRUE. 

gards  all  the  qualities  that  ennoble  men,  he 
may  be  a  very  poor  specimen  indeed. 

Quite  true :  but  we  must  not  run  into  the 
opposite  error  of  imagining  that  thoughtful, 
cultured,  religious  men  must  be  pale-faced 
and  delicate,  pitifully  dyspeptic,  with  a 
stooping  gait  and  a  suspicious  cough,  and  at 
the  utmost  possible  remove  from  a  sound 
physical  development. 

I  am  glad  to  observe  that  now,  in  nearly 
all  our  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations, 
much  attention  is  being  given  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  robust  and  well-proportioned  phys- 
ique. In  order  to  be  fully  equipped  for  the 
task  of  life,  you  should  use  every  means  to 
secure  and  maintain  a  full,  normal  bodily 
vigor. 

Ill  fares  the  land,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates,  and  men  decay. 

May  the  young  men  of  this  nation  prove 
a  stalwart,  manly  race,  and  may  her  sons 
everywhere  be  like  "plants  grown  up  in 
their  youth!" 


''PLANTS  GROWN  UP  IN  THEIR  YOUTH."   115 

2,  A  solid  character. 

Character,  as  Foster  says,  should  retain 
the  upright  vigor  of  manliness :  it  should  be 
like  an  erect  yet  elastic  tree,  which,  though 
it  may  accommodate  itself  to  the  wind, 
never  loses  its  spring  and  independent  form. 

"  Let  it  not  be  said,"  writes  George  Eliot, 
"  that  the  young  men  of  this  age  are  squashy 
things:  that  they  look  well,  but  wont 
wear." 

Youth  unquestionably  is  prone  to  excess ; 
and  on  the  sunny  side  of  twenty  there  is  a 
disposition  to  carry  more  sail  than  ballast. 
Nothing  is  more  injurious  to  a  man  than 
incessant  frivolity.  To  be  always  running 
after  pleasure  betokens  a  low  type  of  hu- 
manity. Youth  should  be  happy,  but  seri- 
ous too.  Continued  levity  emasculates  the 
soul.  To  be  ever  cackling  may  befit  a 
goose,  but  not  a  man. 

It  is  a  fine  thing  to  see  a  young  man  with 
some  solidity  about  him,  some  moral  back- 
bone— to  see  stamped  upon  his  very  face, 
and  gait  and  manner  the  self-respect  that 


Il6  BRAVE    AND    TRUE. 

accompanies  good  sense,  integrity,  and  vir- 
tue. Young  men  should  strive  to  carry  with 
them  a  moral  momentum  that  shall  drive 
before  it  the  trivialities  that  encumber  so 
many,  and  prove  their  ruin.  Grow  like 
young  palms,  stretching  upwards  towards 
heaven;  or,  if  you  prefer  the  simile,  like 
sturdy  English  oaks,  not  dwarfed,  nor 
stunted,  nor  pollarded,  but  reaching  out  and 
up  towards  Him  that  made  you. 

3.  A  hidden  life. 

Doubtless  that  which  chiefly  struck  the 
eye  of  the  sacred  poet  as  he  looked  on  those 
young  trees  was  their  exuberant  vitality. 
Whence  the  height  of  their  stems,  the  ful- 
ness of  their  branches,  the  greenness  of 
their  foliage,  the  beauty  of  their  bloom? 
There  was  a  life  within,  which,  springing 
from  the  root,  made  itself  felt  to  the  remot- 
est leaf  and  fibre.  Under  the  warm  and 
favoring  influence  of  a  tropical  climate, 
sheltered  within  the  inclosure,  yet  open  to 
the  light,  and  rain,  and  dew,  those  trees 
were  pictures  of  full  luxuriant  life. 


"PLANTS  GRO  WN  UP  IN  THEIR  YOUTH:'  1 1 7 

That  life  came  from  God.  Man's  power 
is  marvellous,  but  it  stops  short  of  this. 
Alike  in  the  vegetable  and  animal  world  he 
has  pushed  his  explorations  almost  to  the 
fontal  spring  of  being;  but  he  reaches  a 
point  where  his  keenest  research  is  arrested. 
He  can  neither  discover  nor  impart  life. 

Equally  true  is  this  in  the  spiritual  do- 
main. Personal  religion  is  no  development 
from  within,  no  product  of  moral  evolution ; 
its  germ  must  be  implanted  in  the  soul  by 
the  Spirit  of  God. 

St.  Paul  speaks  of  "  the  power  of  an  end- 
less life" ;  the  Greek  word  is  8bva[ii^  (the  or- 
iginal of  dynamite),  and  means  a  vital  force 
that  cannot  be  confined. 

Who  will  not  long  for  the  day  when  the 
"  sons  of  freedom"  shall  be  *'  as  plants  grown 
up  in  their  youth  "  ?  when  the  young  men  of 
our  land,  spurning  all  courses  that  enervate 
or  demean,  shall  rise  to  the  height  of  a 
manly  dignity,  and  aim  to  be  the  guardians 
and  benefactors  of  their  country? 


a  selection  from 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company's 

catalogue 


fl^vu  l^ot^s  for  Bible  I^eadip^s, 

BT  THE  LATE 

S.    R.    BRIQQS, 

with  brief  Memoir  of  the  author, 
by  Rev.  JAS.  H.  BROOKES,  D.  D. 

Every  one  cf  the  many  readers  of  "Notee 
and  Suggestions  for  Bible  Readings" 
will  wclcomo  this  entirely  new  collection 
containing  selections  from  D,  L.  Moody, 
Maj,  Whittle,  Rev.  J.  H.  Brookes,  D.D.,Prof. 
W.  G.  Moorehead,  Rev.  E.  P.  Marvin,  Jno. 
Carrie,  Rev.W.  J.Erdman,  Rev.  F.  E.Marsh 
Dr.  L.  W.  Munhall,  and  many  others. 

"This  practical  and  valuable  compeud  is  not  to  be  confounded 
with  the  well-known  'Notes  and  Suggestions  for  Bible  Read- 
ings,' edited  by  S.  R.  Bkiggs  and  J.  H.  Elliott,  which  has 
reached,  during  the  past  six  years  a  sale  of  30,000  copies.  The 
entire  new  volume  is  suggestive  and  serviceable."— ^Ae  Presby- 
terian. 

"  The  book  is  admirably  adapted  to  its  purpose.  Through  Dr. 
Brookes'  brief  memoir  the  reader  becomes  exceedingly  interested 
in  the  personality  of  the  late  author  and  so  enjoys  studying 
Scriptures  under  his  leadership.  "—iTAe  Golden  Eule. 

"The  readings  are  practical,  helpful,  full  of  suggestiveness, 
and  bring  out  the  most  important  points  and  truths  in  the  subjects 
on  which  they  are  based.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  best  thing  of  the 
kind  we  have  seen."— ^Ae  Christian  at  Work. 

232  pages,  crown  8vo,  with  Complete  Index. 
Bound  in  Cloth.  Library  Edition,    .      .      •      .     Sl.OC 
Ciotli  Flexibie,  Traveiiers'  Edition, 75 


l^otes  apd  Si]^$(?stiop8 


for  Bibl(^  l^eadii^^s. 


Compiled  by  8.  R.  BRIGGS  and  J.  H.  ELLIOTT. 
"  It  is  a  capital  book,  and  if  possible,  would  like  to  reprint  it 
and  place  a  copy  in  the  hands  of  each  of  our  students."  —  C.  H. 

8FUB0E0N. 

262  pages,  Crown  8vo,  with  Complete  Index. 

Bound  in  Cloth,  Library  Edition $1  00 

Cloth,  Flexible,  Travellers'  Edition 75 

Cheap  Paper  Cover  Edition.. Btt 

NEW  YORK. ::  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company  ::chicago. 


TM  Naw  Enlargsd  and  Authorized  Edition  of  a  Remarkable  Work. 
THE^  CHRISTIAN'S 

SECRET  OF  A  HAPPY  LIFE. 


This  Work,  the  demand  for  which 
has  been  so  great  as  to  wear  out  two 
sets  of  plates,  has  now  been  put  in 
entirely  new  form.  The  book  hav- 
ing become  an  accepted  classic  in  de- 
votional literature,  it  was  thought 
wise  to  issue  this  new  edition  in  a 
compact  form,  and  in  a  variety  o£ 
bindings.  Occasion  has  also  been 
taken  by  the  author  to  thoroughly  re- 
vise  the  whole  work,  besides  adding 
considerable  new  matter. 


Few  Books  of  a  Religious  Character  have  been 
accorded  such  Hearty  and  Universal  En- 
dorsement from  all  Denominations. 

*'  To  commend  this  work  would  seem  almost  superfluous; 
and  yet  to  young  Christians  who  may  not  know  it,  we  can- 
not refrain  from  saying,  Buy  this  book,  and  keep  it  with 
your  Bible  for  constant  study,  until  you  have  thoroughly 
mastered,  in  your  own  experience,  the  '  secret '  of  which  it 
tells.  It  will  transform  the  dark  days  of  your  life,  as  it 
has  transformed  those  of  thousands  before  you,  into  days 
of  heavenly  light." — New  York  Evangelist. 

"  We  have  not  for  years  read  a  book  with  more  delight 
«nd  profit.  The  author  has  a  rich  experience,  and  tells  it 
in  a  plain  and  delightful  manner." — Christian  Advocate. 

The  "  Handy  Classic  Edition."    18mo,  292  pages  as  follows : 

Each  in  separate  box,  gilt  edge,  round  corners,  except  No.  3. 


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12,   Best  German    Calf 

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t/IANY  INFALLIBLE  PROOFS.  The  Evidences  of  Christi- 
anity;  or,  the  Written  and  Living  Word  of  God.  By 
Arthur  T.  Pierson,  D.  D.  i2mo,  cloth,  317  pages, 
$1.00.    Also  a  cheap  edition,  paper  cover,  net,  35  cents. 

In  response  to  repeated  requests  a  cheap  edition  of  this  popu- 
lar work  has  been  issued  for  general  circulation  while  at  the  same 
time  the  author  has  taken  occasion  to  thoroughly  revise  the 
volume.  As  a  popular  and  practical  work  to  meet  the  scepticism 
of  the  day  this  work  stands  alone. 

"  Only  a  man  of  wide  and  of  broad  sympathies,  and  one  who  hal 
himself  come  up  out  of  a  conflict  with  doubts,  could  have  so  com. 
pletely  covered  the  whole  battle  field  of  unbelief,  meeting  the 
doubter  at  every  point  with  a  candor  that  captivates,  and  a  logic 
that  conquers."— Jforniwg'  Star. 

"  With  manly  earnestness  born  of  strong  convictions,  Dr.  Pieb- 
SON  presents  a  series  of  arguments  that  can  hardly  fail  to  satisfy 
the  most  exacting  doubter."— JExami/ieT". 

WHAT  ARE  WE  TO  BELIEVE?  or,  The  Testimony  of  rul- 
filled  Propliecy.  By  Rev.  John  Urqxjhart.  16- 
mo,  230  pages,  cloth  75  cents. 

"  This  book,  so  small  in  hulk  but  so  large  in  thought,  sets  forth 
a  great  mass  of  such  testimony  in  lines  so  clear  and  powerful  that 
we  pity  the  man  who  could  read  it  without  amazement  and  awe. 
It  is  the  very  book  to  put  into  the  hands  of  an  intelligent  Agnos- 
tic."—TAfi  Christian,  London. 

ENDLESS  BEING  ;  or  Man  Made  for  Eternity.  By  Rev.  J. 
L.  Barlow.  Introduction  by  the  Rev.  P.  S. 
Henson,  D.  D.     Cloth,  16mo,  165  pages,  75  cents. 

An  unanswerable  work,  meeting  the  so-called  annihilation  and 
kindred  theories  most  satisfactorily.  The  author  held  for  years 
these  errors,  and  writes  as  one  fully  conversant  with  the  ground 
he  covers.    It  is  a  work  which  should  be  widely  circulated. 

"  It  so  completely  cuts  away  the  ground  from  under  the  f ee4 
of  the  annihilationist  as  to  leave  him  not  an  inch  to  stand  apon.'* 
—From  Introduction. 

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THE  OPEN  SECRET;  or,  the  Bible  Explaining 
Itself.    By  Hannah  Whitall  Smith. 

That  the  author  of  this  work  has  a  faculty  of  presenting 
the  "Secret  Things"  that  are  revealed  in  the  Word  of 
God,  is  apparent  to  all  who  have  read  the  exceedingly  pop- 
ular work,  "  The  Christian's  Secret  of  a  Happy  Life," 
and  such  will  not  be  disappointed  in  expecting  to  find  in 
this  new  volume  a  fullness  and  sweetness  in  the  unfolding  of 
God's  Word,  in  its  application  to  the  practical  and  daily  du- 
ties of  Christian  living.     i2mo,  320  pages,  cloth,  f  i.oo. 

BIBLE  BRIEFS ;  or,  Outline  Themes  for  Scrip- 
ture Students.  By  G.  C.  and  E.  A.  Needham.  i6mo, 
224  pages,  cloth,  $1.00. 

"  Here  are  sermons  in  miniature,  which  any  preacher  will  find  it 
profitable  to  expand  into  sermons  in  full  measure.  True  Biblical  out- 
lines are  here ;  not  artificial  '  sketches,'  but  Scripture  frame-works. 
Oh,  that  the  preachers  would  depend  on  such  frame-works,  rather  than 
on  such  _fire-works  as  many  of  them  attempt !" — Jiev.  A.J,  Gordon^ 
D.  D.,  in  The  IVatc/iword. 

"  Here  you  have  meat  without  bones,  and  land  without  stones.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Needham  will  have  the  gratitude  of  many  a  hard-pressed 
teacher  when  he  is  hard  up  tor  a  talk." — liev,  C.  H.  Sturgeon. 

BIBLE  HELPS  FOR   BUSY  MEN.     By  A.  C.  P. 

COOTE.  * 

Contains  over  200  Scripture  subjects,  clearly  worked  out 

and  printed   in  good   legible  type,  with  an  alphabetical 

index.     140  pages,  i6mo,  paper,  30c. ;  cloth,  6oc. 

"  The  topics  are  familiar  in  thought  and  form,  and  are  in  many  cases 
admirably  adapted  for  Bible  readings  and  for  prayer  meetings.  '  Busy 
Men,'  upon  whom  rests  the  responsibility  of  leading  a  meeting  and 
choosing  a  topic,  and  especially  of  conducting  an  evangelistic  meeting, 
will  find  this  little  book  of  deculed  value."— 7"-4«  Golden  Rule. 

"  Likely  to  be  of  use  to  overworked  brethren."— C.  H.  Spurgbon. 

•'  Given  in  a  clear  and  remarkably  telling  lorm."— Christian  LhuUt, 

NEW  YORK : :  Fleming  H,  Revell  Company  : :  Chicago 


Popular  MissionaryBiographies 

12mo,  160  pages.     Fully  illustrated.    Cloth  extra,  75  cents  each. 


'tOHM  ,(|OFFMfiutMt  C/kR£rt'TOISOl(i 


From  TAe  Missionary 
Herald. 

"  We  commended  this  ser- 
ies in  our  last  issue,  and  a 
further  examination  leads  us 
to  renew  our  commendation, 
and  to  urge  the  placing  of 
this  series  of  missionary 
books  in  all  our  Sabbath- 
school  libraries. 

These  books  are  handsome- 
ly printed  and  bound  and  are 
beautifully  illustrated,  and  we 
are  confident  that  they  will 
prove  attractive  to  all  young 
people," 


"  These  are  not  pans  of  milk,  but  little  pitchers  of  cream,  compact  and 
condensed  from  bulkier  volumes." — Dr.  A.  T.  Pierson. 

oAMTJETj  CTtOWT'HER,  the  Slave  Boy  who  became 
Slshop  of  the  Niger,  By  Jesse  Page,  author  of  "  Bishop 
Patteson." 

THOMAS  J.  COMBEJt,  Missionary  Pioneer  to  the 
Congo.  By  Rev.  J.  B.  Myers,  Association  Secretary  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Society. 

JllSirOP  PATTESON,  the  Martyr  of  Melanesia.  By 
Jesse  Page. 

GRIFFITH:  JOHN,  Founder  of  the  Hankow  Mission, 
Central  China.  By  Wm.  Robson,  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society. 

JtOBEBT  MORRISON,  the  Pioneer  of  Chinese  Mis- 
sions. By  Wm.  J.  Townsend,  Sec.  Methodist  New  Connexion 
Missionary  Society. 

ROBERT  MOFFAT,  the  Missionary  Hero  of  Kuruman, 

By  David  J.  Deane,  author  of  "  Martin  Luther,  the  Reformer,"  etc. 
WILLIAM  CARET,  the  Shoemaker  who  became  a  Mis- 
sionary.    By.  Rev.  J.   B.   Myers,  Association  Secretary  Baptist 

Missionary  Society. 
JTAMES  CHALMERS,  Missionary   and   Explorer  of 

Rarotonga  and  New    Guinea.    By   Wm.  Robson,    of  the 

London  Missionary  Society. 
MISSIONARY  LADIES  IN  FOREIGN  LANDS.     By 

Mrs.  E.  R.  Pitman,  author  of  "  Heroines  of  the  Missionary  Fields, 

etc. 

JAMES  CALVERT, •  or.  From  Dark  to  Dawn  in  Fiji. 

JOHN  WILLIAMS,  the  Martyr  of  Polynesia.  By  Rev. 
Jambs  J.  Ellis. 

HENRY  MARTYN,  his  Life  and  Labors.  By  Jesse  Page, 
author  of  "  Bishop  Patterson,"  etc. 

NEW  YORK. ::  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company  ::  Chicago. 


7178  -)<0I^5)^piECD  3001^5." 


A  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES,  NO.  3.    Being  report  of 

the  Students'  gathering  at  Northfleld,  in  July,  1889 :  Contain- 
ing addresses  by  Bishop  Foss,  Rev.  M.  D.  Hoge,  D.  D.,  Bishop 
Baldwin,  Rev.  I.  D.  Driver,  D.  D.,  Prof.W.  R.  Harper,  Rev.  A. 
T.  Pierson,  D.  D.,  Mr.  D.  L.  Moody  and  others. 

12mo,  296  Pages,  Cloth,  $1.00  net. 

The  "  Practical  Talks  "  as  given  in  report  of  previous  years, 
gatherings,  the  demand  for  which  has  called  for  so  many  editions, 
has  induced  us  to  publish  an  account  of  this  year's  proceedings, 
none  the  less  "  practical,"  and  we  feel  sure  will  be  as  nilly  appreci- 
ated. 

COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD,  or  A  Col- 
lege of  Colleges,  No.  8.  Conducted  during  July,  1888 :  Con- 
taining addresses  by  Mr.  D.  L.  Moody,  Rev.  J.  Hudson  Tay- 
lor, M.  D.,  Bishop  Hendrix,  Rev.  Alex.  McKenzie,  D.  D.,  Rev. 
Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  D.  D.,  Prof.  W.  R.  Harper  and  others. 

12mo,  296  Pages,  Cloth,  $l-00  net. 

Rev.  Joseph  Cook. — "  It  is  well  edited,  well  printed,  and  well 
inspired  from  on  High.  Is  full  of  a  Holy  Fire  of  spiritual  zeal, 
which  I  hope  to  see  spread  far  and  wide.'' 

A  COLLEGE   OF   COLLEGES,  or  Practical  Talha  to 

College  Students.  Given  in  July,  1887,  by  Prof.  Henry 
Drummond,  F.  R.  S.  E..  Rev.  i.  A.  Broadus,  D.  D.,  Prof. 
Townsend,  Rev.  A.  T.  Rerson,  D.  D.,  Mr.  D.  L.  Moody  and 
others. 

12mo,  288  Pages,  Cloth,  $1.00  net. 

"  The  volume  closes  with  a  chapter  of  '  nuggets  '  from  North- 
fleld, which  is  no  exception,  however,  as  the  other  chapters  are 
equally  rich  in  '  nuggets.'  "—The  Independent. 

D.  L.    MOODY  AT  SOME.      B.ia  Home  and  Home 

Work.  Embracing  a  description  of  the  educational  institu- 
tions established  at  Northfleld,  Mass.,  together  with  an  ac- 
count of  the  various  noted  gatherings  of  Christian  workers 
at  the  place,  and  the  most  helpful  and  suggestive  lectures,  and 
the  best  thoughts  there  exchanged ;  adding,  also,  many  help- 
ful and  practical  hints  for  Christian  work. 
12mo,  288  Pages,  Cloth,  Eight  Illustrations,  $1. 

The  New  York  Evangelist  spoke  most  truly  when  it  said : 
"  The  public  is  unaware  of  Mr.  Moody's  enormous  investments 
at  Northfleld,  that  will  pay  him  abundant  interest  long  after  he 
reaches  heaven." 

NBw  YORK.  : :  Fleming  H,    ReVell  Company  : :  Chicago. 


Ml88  HflYERGAL'8  POEMS. 


Author's  Edition. 

THE 

PoetlcsarilJorSg 

-OF- 
FRANCES 
RIDLEY 

HAVERGAL. 

THE  ONLY  COMPLETE  UNABRIDGED 

AUTHORIZED  EDITION  PUBLISHED 

IN  AMERICA.      In  i  Vol.  lamo,  880  Pages. 

Miss  Havergal  stands  without  a  peer  in  the  English  language 
In  the  department  of  religious  poetry.  The  enormous  sale  of  her 
separate  books  is  evidence  of  a  world-wide  appreciation. 

Cloth  extra $2  00 

Cloth  bevelled  boards,  full  gilt  edges 2  50 

Half  white  vellum  cloth,  gilt  top,  uncut  edges  2  50 
Full  Levant,  Antique  finish 6  00 


We  quote  the  following  from  the  PuUishera'  Weekly : 

"  It  is  in  answer  to  many  requests,  that  the  various 
Poems,  Hymns  and  Songs  of  Frances  Ridley  Hav- 
ergal, are  comprised  in  this  library  edition.  The 
labor  of  love  was  undertaken  by  Miss  Havergal's 
niece,  who  revised  and  arranged  with  much  care  this 
complete  and  final  edition.  The  book  in  paper,  print 
and  binding  is  all  that  could  be  desired." 

NEW  YORK. : :  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company : :  Chicago. 


100,000 

SYNONYMS  AND  ANTONYMS. 


A  COMPLETE  DICTIONARY 


Synonyms   and  Antonyms,  or  Syn- 
onyms and    Words  of  Opposite 
Meaning,  With  an  Appendix 

Embracing  a  Dictionary  of  Briticisms, 
Americanisms,  Colloquial  Phrases,  etc.,  in 
current  use ;  the  Grammatical  uses  of 
Prepositions  and  Prepositions  Discrimina- 
ted, a  list  of  Homonyms  and  Homophon- 
ous  Words  ;  a  collection  of  Foreign  Phras- 
es, and  complete  list  of  Abbreviations  and 
Contractions  used  in  writing  and  printing. 

—  BY  — 


RUeY.  SAMUEL  FALLOWS,  A.  M,D.D. 

OneVol.  512  Fages.  Cloth.   Price  $1.00, 
Sloth,  Gilt,  Beveled  Boards,  Canary  Edge.  Price,  $  1 .60. 


Daily  American,  Nashville,  Tenn.— "  A  book  that  may  be  called 
well  nigh  invaluable  to  every  class  of  people — students,  literary  men, 
public  speakers,  or  any  who  have  much  of  writing  to  do.  Scarcely  any 
one  can  afford  to  do  without  it,  and  to  the  person  who  writes  in  a  hurry 
it  will  prove  a  boon  indeed." 

The  more  one  has  occasion  to  use  it  the  more  its  completeness  is 
observed  It  covers  the  field  of  its  work  most  admirably,  and  so  meth- 
odically arranged  as  to  make  reference  to  a  word  or  colloquialism, or  for- 
eign phrase  easy.  It  is  among  the  best,  if  not  the  best  book  of  its  kind 
written  for  the  practical  use  of  the  student. — Inter  Ocean. 

This  is  one  of  the  beet  books  of  its  kind  we  have  seen,  and 
probably  there  is  nothing  published  in  the  country  that  is  equal 
to  it.— F.  M.  C.A.  Watchmati. 

NEW  YORK. : :  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company : :  chicaga 


"The  World's  Benefactors." 

UNIFORM  WITH  THE 

"POPULAR  MISSIONARY  BIOGRAPHIES." 

12mo,  160  pages  fully  illustra'^'^d.  Cloth  extra,  75c.  each. 


In  this  series  it  is  proposed  to 
issue  a  number  of  biographies 
of  eminent  men,  who*e  work  is 
universally  acknowledged  as 
uplifting,  and  the  record  of 
whose  lives  cannot  but  be  of 
inspiration  to  the  young.  Each 
volume  will  be  very  fully  illus- 
trated, and  attractively  bound. 

T  Tie  following  a/re  ready : 


Henry  M.  Stanley,  the  African  Explorer.    By  Abthub 

MONTEFIORE,  F.  R.  G.  S. 

John  Bright,  the  Man  of  the  People.    By  Jesse  Page. 

David  Livingstone,  His  Labors  and  His  Legacy.    By 
Arthur  Montefiore,  F.  R.  G.  S. 

The  Litera/ry  World,  in  reviewing  the  first  of  this 
series,  says : 

"In  presenting  us  with  a  popular  biography  of  the 
great  traveller  whose  latest  adventures  are  being  fol- 
lowed with  such  breathless  interest,  Mr.  Arthur 
Montefiore  has  supplied  an  obvious  want  by  giving 
a  clear  and  connected  view  of  all  Stanley  has  hitherto 
accomplished,  and  putting  the  reader  in  a  position  to 
understand  the  great  drama  that  is  now  being  enacted 
in  Central  Africa." 

The  second  is  spoken  of  by  the  Bookseller  as  follows : 
■'  If  a  thoroughly,  popular  sympathetic  memoir  of  Mr. 
Bright  is  in  request,  readers  can  hardly  do  better  than  avail 
themselves  of  Mr.  Page's  graphic  narrative." 

NEW  YORK.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company.     Chicago. 


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